


The Devastating Future

by ThatPotatoWhoWrites



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Time Travel, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 37
Words: 61,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22868569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatPotatoWhoWrites/pseuds/ThatPotatoWhoWrites
Summary: Anakin is sent forwards in time. He meets Luke and Leia, and with the Jedi Knight's help they infiltrate an imperial weapons factory, shutting it down in the process. Will Anakin figure out where he is, and who he will turn into before he is sent back to his own time? Can he stop his own fall to the dark side? Or is it destined by fate?
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 91
Kudos: 304





	1. Flash Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Look, the first few chapters are... dire, to say the least. Get past them and the writing gets better, though of course still tragic by the level of Shakespeare. I wrote those first chapters a few years back and haven’t changed them much since. I have picked the story up a few times and you’ll probably be able to tell where, but just bear with me on the slow start.

Anakin felt confusion and desperation warp his vision and cloud his judgement. Flashes of white lightning reflected violently off of the sparking light sabre of Mace Windu. The Jedi master had the chancellor pinned below him as they were locked in a deadly battle of the wills, dangerously close to the gaping shattered window. They both called out Anakin's name, they expected his alliance. He didn't want Padmé to die, but if he let Mace win, then there was no way he could save her without the sigh lord. He didn't know what to do. He cried out, begging Mace to let Palpatine live, but it fell on deaf ears. He knew what he had to do. He took a step forwards, only to find himself engulfed in darkness and falling at a rapid rate. Everything around him slowly began to grow cold. He cried out in terror as he plummeted to an unknown fate. He landed with a crunch and everything faded to black.

Anakin woke up in a frenzy, he sat up bolt right, his heart was racing and his eyes were wild. He was definitely not in the chancellors office any more. He was in a med bay of some sort. He reached for his light sabre, only to find himself grasping at thin air. He was in a small room that couldn't have been more than a few meters in width. He was lying on a pristine white bed, and a small IV unit was connected to his human hand. He groaned as a wave of grogginess washed over him. Something must have happened, he must have been knocked out from behind. He swung his legs over the medical bed an stood upright, he had nearly no head room. He was still dressed in his Jedi attire, but he could see his light sabre no where. He pulled the needles inserted into his human hand out swiftly before glancing around once more, the room was all white with no windows. The door was made of some sort of heavy metal, and could definitely withstand more than a few blaster shots. He ran a hand through his messy locks of brown hair. What had happened to Palpatine? He couldn't have died. Anakin still needed him. He turned to the door as it sprung open and he was met with a very surprised looking woman. Her long brown hair was pulled back into intricate braids and her dark brown eyes peered out from under thick eyelashes. She reminded him a lot of Padmé. Her eyebrows raised in shock as a medic entered the small room behind her, clear just as taken aback, "you're awake?" She asked in surprise. A Blaster hung from her hips loosely, and the medic seemed to have some sort of weapon attached to him as well.

"Where am I?" He asked, his voice was harsh and cold. He needed to get to the chancellor, he needed to save Padmé before it was too late.

"I can't tell you that unless you tell us who you are," She replied, mimicking his slight hostility perfectly. She cocked her hip to one side and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

He narrowed his eyes, "you mean you don't know who I am?" He was confused, normally people recognised him instantly as the hero with no fear. He felt unease and suspicion swirl underneath the skin of all three of them. He did not know who these people were, so perhaps it would be better to conceal his true identity. For all he knew they could be assassins, and though he could have killed them very easily, he needed to know where he was.

"Should I," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest and wearing a look of mild confusion.

"No, of course not," Anakin cleared his throat, "I'm Naberrie... Anakin Naberrie," he thought of his cover up name on the spot. He did not trust this brunette in the slightest, "Can you tell me if Chancellor Palpatine is still alive?" He asked as urgency rushed into his voice.

"Chancellor Palpatine?" She screwed up her nose, before realisation dawned on her, "you mean emperor Palpatine?" She asked skeptically, this man was very strange.

"No, Chancellor, he is a member of the senate?" Anakin urged her, his patience wearing thin, he was glad he had hidden his name, something did not seem right with these people.

"The senate?" She furrowed her brows as confusion warped her face, "they haven't been around in a long time," 

"What?" Anakin replied, this woman was clearly delusional.

"Listen, Anakin," she cleared her throat, "when we found you, you were encased in ice and snow, we didn't think you would live," she explained as Anakin just got more confused, "we don't know how long you were trapped in there, or how you survived... but I think that maybe a lot of time has passed," her face filled with pity.

Anakin shook his head and brushed off her ridiculousness, "where are we?"

"Hoth," she replied hesitantly, this man would surely not be a threat to the alliance if he had been buried under the snow since before the senate was dissolved. He clearly had some catching up to do.

"H-Hoth?" He squeaked in surprise as the reality of his situation smacked him in the face, "When did the clone wars end?" He asked.

She hesitated again, "over twenty years ago," she replied.

Anakin took a step back in shock, "what about the Jedi Council? Where are they?" Had he been gone for that long? Did he have a child? Was Padmé alive? He needed to know.

"They all died in the Jedi purges," The woman replied as pitty filled her heart. She had found him with a light sabre, so perhaps he was a Jedi. Maybe he could train Luke.

"What about Senator Amidala? Is she alive?" He begged her for answers, "And who are you?"

"I have never heard of a senator Amidala, though that doesn't mean she isn't alive..." she assured him as worry and panic creased his features, "and I am Leia Organa, a member of the rebel alliance,"


	2. In The Hangar

Anakin followed at the heels of Leia as she strode confidently through the Rebel base, as she called it. Hundreds of men and women in uniforms rushed past them, hoping to get to their destination quickly. She had given him a brief history of the last twenty years, but he was stuck in shock. There was no way the Jedi Council was wiped out. It just couldn't be. He was still unsure of how he had ended up where he was, but he knew that for now he would just have to be patient. He had already gone through a health check by the medic and his droids, who was amazed that Anakin was alive. He followed the lady out into a massive hanger that had masses of ships and tanks set out in rows, either being maintained or cleaned. He felt warmth spread through his heart. To him, the hangar felt like home. The princess spun gracefully and made her way over to a pile of chests and storage compartments that had been shoved into the corner of the cavernous room that was filled with colloquial chatter and drills hitting metal. It was deafening. The lady was wearing all white, and had an impressive posture, if Anakin's hadn't know better, he might have mistaken her for Padmé. She bent over and picked up a small metal chest before swirling on her heels and handing it to him. With raised eyebrows he popped open the lid and glanced inside. His heart filled with relief, it was his light sabre. He pulled it out with a sigh and clipped it onto his belt. Hopefully it still worked. Leia raised her eyebrows, "Are you a Jedi?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

He paused, debating wether or not he should tell her the truth, "Yes, I am a Jedi Knight," he replied honestly. He always felt a surge of power run through him when he said that. It was something he was incredibly proud of.

A smile split her face, "perfect," she seemed delighted by her discovery, "then there is someone I want you to meet," he nodded in approval as she once more turned on her heels and began weaving through the masses of ships and rebels. 

Luke began to wipe the oil from his hands as he stared at his x-wing in delight. His new modifications blended into the ship as though they were part of the ship's original design. R2D2 whistled happily beside him as he took as step back, being careful not to step into anyone rushing past him, "Luuukkkkeee," he glanced over his shoulder as he heard a familiar female voice call his name. Leia was stride towards him with a happy grin spread across her face. A tall man was trailing behind her, he had two striking blue eyes, a mop of sandy-blonde hair and dark clothing that clung to him. Just by looking at him, the pilot could tell he was strong in the force, his hopes began to swirl around him.

"Hey Leia," Luke greeted her as she pulled him into a tight hug and released her gently. She stared at him as delight was present in her eyes.

"This is the man we found frozen in the ice," she pointed to the tall man with a glimmer of hope.

Luke outstretched his hand to the man, "I'm Luke Skywalker, nice to meet you," 

Anakin frozen, even if it was only temporary, he outstretched his hand and shook Luke's hesitantly, "Nice to meet you Luke, I'm Anakin Naberrie," he smiled, but his mind was on over drive. This boy, who looked around about twenty, had the second name of Skywalker. Could he have been Anakin's son? It had to be, because his hair was the same dirty blonde that Anakin's was and his eyes shone with a hopeful blue, not to mention that his power in the force seemed to be unnaturally strong. The Jedi was a little disturbed by his realisation, if this was his son, then where was Padmé? He could ask later, but for now he needed to be subtle. He needed to observe.

"He's a Jedi Luke," Leia told him whilst trying to contain her excitement in front of the two men, but they picked up on it anyway. 

"Y-you're a Jedi?" Luke gasped as he looked the man up and down, his eyes were wide and his mind blown, he must have escaped the Jedi purges because he was frozen in ice. That meant old Ben Kenobi was not the last Jedi. That meant that maybe Luke could get some further training in the ways of the force.

"Yes, I am a Jedi Knight," Anakin smiles at the boy's awe and wonder. He noticed that a lightsaber hung loosely from the boy's belt, maybe he too was a Jedi in training. That would make sense, but who was training him? He was under the impression that all the Jedi had been killed by some Masked monster named Vader.

"Leia," a man with several badges and strips approached the trio in long strides, "General Rieekan wants to see you with Skywalker in the briefing room as soon as possible," he announced.

Anakin felt goosebumps spread down his back, he was not used to other people having his last name, it was a strange feeling. Then again, Luke was his son, he should have been happier. Yet he was still stuck in shock, he was more than twenty years in the future and everything thing he had come to know and love was destroyed. He just hadn't accepted it yet. He needed to be patient, and work with these rebels until he found out more, "Yes, we will be there immediately," she reported back to him with a kind smile. The man walked away from the small group and headed into he direction he had appeared from, Leia turned to Anakin, "you should come with us, I want to introduce you to the commander," she told him softly.


	3. Interception

Anakin stepped into the small and dark room behind Leia and Luke. There was only a few people there, one of which he was guessing was Commander Rieekan. A small hologram was projected in the centre on the circular room, it looked as though it was a small moon, but he couldn't be sure. He could feel the uneasiness she of everyone in the room except from Luke and Leia. They had no idea who this strange Man in dark clothing was, who had entered one of the most vulnerable rooms in the entire Rebel base, "Who is this man Princess Leia?" A tall general with a swoosh of brown hair asked the woman skeptically.

"This is Anakin Naberrie, he is the man we found trapped in ice," she replied, "he is a Jedi," she really hoped that Anakin would stick around. They could use someone with talents like his. Maybe he could even kill Vader. She really hoped so.

"A Jedi?" The General looked startled, as though he was looking at a ghost, then again, he might have been.

"Yes, and I have just learned of your current predicament with this so called 'empire'," He scrunched up his nose in distaste as he made a split second decision, "if there is anything I can do to help end that scum then let me know," if he was stuck here, then he might as well try to help out.

"That's... Brilliant," the Commander smiled, although Anakin could sense his linger doubts, "but since we are always being attacked by the empire, you will remain under constant observation until you have proven yourself trust worthy,"

"Yes Commander," Anakin accepted the Commander's wishes before anyone could object. If he was going to help them, he needed their trust, and if he needed their trust then he was going to have to accept their terms.

"In that case Commander, could our team be the one keeping him under surveillance?" The princess asked, if Luke was going to have a chance of being trained by Anakin then he needed to be near him. What better way to keep Anakin close than taking him on missions with them.

The Commander mulled over the idea for a moment, "fine, but if he goes rogue then it's on your head princess," he told her firmly. Anakin didn't like his tone, but he would tolerate it. 

"That alright with me," Leia crossed her arms over her chest with a victorious smirk, "What did you call us here for anyway,"

"I have a mission to assign you, and you will be taking Anakin with you," he replied coldly.

Anakin relaxed back into one of the many tattered and worn seats of the Millennium Flacon. The pilot who he had recently discovered was a smuggler named Han was sitting in the cockpit shifting between controls with his Wookiee co-pilot. Luke and Leia sat close to Anakin, sending him curious glances every now and then. He watched in amusement as his old droids argued amongst themselves. C3Po and R2D2 began to speak harshly with one another. C3PO had his memory wiped clearly since he would have vocalised when meeting the man who built him, but R2 seemed to be pretending as though Anakin did not exist. He couldn't understand why his ex-companion would do that, but he trusted the droid, "so what were the Jedi like?" Luke asked timidly as he stared over at Anakin. The Flacon shuddered every now and then and the room smelled of must and metallic rust. Anakin was amazed the rust bucket even flew.

"From before the empire?" Anakin asked. Luke nodded and Leia listened closely to what the Jedi had to say, "The were strict, and very controlling," He scrunched his nose up in distaste, "the Jedi were not allowed to form relationships and they took force sensitive babies from their families at a very young age..." he replied honestly. He had always somewhat resented the Jedi Council and their way of doing things. It seemed inhumane and cruel.

"That sounds... awful," Luke admitted with a sad sigh, before his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "if Jedi were not allowed to form bonds, for example romantic ones, then could they still have children?" His Father was a Jedi Knight, surely he hadn't broken the Jedi code.

"No, that was against the rules," Anakin snorted, "you would have been kicked out the order and stripped of all your titles if they found out you had kids or a relationship,"

"Oh... my father was a Jedi Knight," Luke muttered to himself as Anakin's interest peaked, so he really was the boy's father, "his name was Anakin Skywalker,"

Anakin felt a proud smile spread across his face, "I only met him a few times," he replied as he watched his son's face fill with hope, "they called him the hero without fear, he was very skilled. It was a pity we shared the same name, I was always trapped in his shadow," as much as Anakin wanted to, he didn't confess his true identity to the boy. Anakin had a feeling in his gut that it wasn't the right time, and as a Jedi, trusting his gut was always a priority.

"Really?" Luke's eyes were wide with wonder and he watched an amused smile play across Anakin's face.

"Yes, him and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi made quite a team," he chuckled to himself as he recounted the many times he and his master had wormed their way out of a tight situation.

"Master Obi-wan was the one who trained me in the ways of the force," Luke replied. He was overjoyed that he and his father shared the same master. Obi-Wan must have been one heck of a teacher if he produced the Hero with no fear.

Anakin smiled, in a way he was happy Obi-Wan was the one to pass the baton on to his son, but he just hoped that he hadn't held back Luke as he had Anakin, "where would he be now?" Anakin asked.

Luke's face fell and his blue eyes watered with misery, "he died by Vader's sabre," Luke gritted his teeth to prevent anger from clouding his judgement. He would never forgive Vader, he needed vengeance for his master.

Anakin's heart clenched. His master was dead. He took deep breaths, he had expected that many of his previous friends were dead, but not Obi-Wan. He felt hatred for Vader stir in his gut, he might not have met the monster, but he already despised his guts. He suppressed his grief, he could deal with that in his own time, "I see," he managed to choke out, earning a concerned glance from Leia.

"Okay, we've landed," Han announced as he entered the room, "Jabba's emissary is currently inside the main building, his ship is parked just next to ours, so all we need to do is clear out the guards, get the keys and we will be on our way,"


	4. Weapon’s Base

Anakin pulled the huttese guard helmet over his head. He could never understand why anyone would ever wear such a monstrosity. It was heavy, clunky and obscured most of his vision. With a sigh he secured the rest of his fake armour. It was a little small, but it would do. The team had successfully intercepted Jabba's emissary, and they were about to land on Cymoon One. Chewbacca had already safely hidden the millennium falcon amongst the moon's massive junk yards, to which it easily blended in with it's rusted steel and tacky exterior. The Wookie had positioned himself high above the landing platform they were headed for, on a communications pole. He made an excellent sniper and rarely missed a shot. Anakin turned to the rest of the team, Luke and Leia wore the same rugged and solid huttese armour that he did, and Han wore exactly what he always did, which was less than overwhelming. He gave a nod of support to the team as they took position and lined up behind Han in the dirty, rusted old ship that could barely squeeze them all in.

The ship's door slowly opened up onto the platform below, letting out a terrible screeching noise. Anakin winced inside his helmet, had Hutt never heard of oil? Blinding light rushed into the dim container, prompting Han to step forwards into the light and down the rusted ramp. The three Skywalker's followed him with a quick pace and surrounded him, protecting his back, like body guards. After all, that's what they were supposed to be. R2D2 rolled silently to Han's side. The air was thick with pollution and the pungent smell of harsh chemicals and oil burned their noses and throats. They were met face to face with a mass of imperial storm troopers and a very strict looking man with thin lips and harsh features. His uniform was perfect, and his posture impeccable, there was no doubt he was the man in charge, "greetings on behalf of the emperor. We are in hope that our negotiations will prove swift and fruitful. I am overseer Aggadeen. Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" The man's voice crackled with age and power.

"The official emissary of your highness Lord Jabba, Han Solo," Han replied with swift confidence. Immediately Android next to the overseer began to beep and whir, in an attempt to prove Han's statement.

"Han Solo, an officially know affiliate of Jabba the Hutt," the drone announced in a monatone and robotic voice.

"Perfect, come with us," the overseer gave them an evil and twisted smile. Anakin's gut stirred with unease. This whole place put him on edge. The group of undercover rebels followed Agadeen and his stormtroopers into the factory, where he gave useless information a about its foundation and structure. The factory was impressive, it stretched far above their heads and it was filled with the sound of mechanical whirring. All of the grey and metallic surfaces reflected the brilliant light harshly, nearly blinding them. The overseer stopped outside of a small room that looked like an interrogation chamber. It had a small square table within it and two metal chairs. A large pane of one way glass glittered in the wall next to the heavy metal door, leading into the small room, "you will have to forgive us, the negotiator shall be here soon," Agadeen turned to them with a expressionless stare.

"That's quite alright, we won't be needing him," Han chuckled darkly. The overseer frowned, but before he could react, R2 released a thick dark liquid onto the floor that leaked under the feet of the stormtroopers. They looked down in confusion, but it didn't last long. The little droid sent a wave of electricity across the liquid, electrocuting and knocking out the soldiers. The Overseer took a step back in shock and horror as his face paled. Anakin, Luke and Leia pulled off their disguises and faced down the overseer with determined stares, "now where would that main reactor be?" Han asked forcefully.

"I would never betray the empire," the man snorted with false bravery that Anakin could see right through. The man was terrified. If the Jedi had it his way, he would have threatened the man with his light sabre, but Han gave a signal to R2D2, and the little droid allowed a little arm to leave his metal casing, crackling with electricity, "that way," the Overseer went stark white and pointed down a large and open corridor that seemed to go on for miles.

The team entered the main reactor core. A long thin spiral extended upwards in the centre of the circular, metallic room. The spiral was surrounded by a ring of advanced computers and blinking lights. Leia immediately began working on the computers with the instructions given to her by the alliance. That's when Luke heard it. It was feint and soft, but it was there. The voice of Ben Kenobi called out to him softly, pulling him out of the reactor core and down a narrow and dull set of stairs that seem to extend endlessly downwards. He could feel the voice vibrating with sorrow, the lower he got. He noticed that Anakin had followed him down, but he did not make any comment on it. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he looked on in horror. They were in a small concrete room with little light that was boiling hot and stank. Tens of eyes stared at him in shock and desperation. Slaves. They were trapped behind metal bars that resembled a cage, with a large variety of species. Luke could have guessed this factory would have slaves. Quite suddenly the Jedi in training felt ripples of anger smashing into him. He whipped around in shock of find Anakin gritting his teeth with his hands clenched into tight fists, "Anakin, are you-" Luke was cut off when a large pig like Man charged into the room, red in the face and clearly annoyed. He wore what resembled the typical slave trader uniform.

"Who the heck are you?" He shouted, his eyes narrowing to slits as he reached for the weapon attached to his belt. He didn't have time to draw it. In a flash of blue and black the man was lying headless on the floor with Anakin standing over him victoriously.

Luke blinked in shock, "A-Anakin, are you okay?" He asked as his team mate's shoulders were heaving and his gloved hand still gripped tight around his sheathed light sabre. Luke couldn't help but notice the similarities between his weapon and Anakin's they were next to identical.

"I'm fine, free them," he gestured to the slaves that were looking at the pair with both relieved and shocked eyes. They didn't know if those men were there to help or make things much worse, if that was possible.

Luke shrugged it off and pulled his blaster from his belt. He pulled the trigger back smoothly and watched with joy as the lock on the cage door fell off. Luke opened the door wide, taking a step back and admiring his handiwork, "anyone who hates the empire, follow me."


	5. Hit Me One Time

Luke entered the main reactor core with Anakin and a stream of slaves following behind him. Han looked at him in surprise and shock, "we have a few more passengers," Luke chuckled nervously.

"The more the merrier," Han cheered, "but this core is going to blow real soon, so we need to go," he gestured to the door that left the room. Luke nodded and they took off running. Anakin ran behind the slaves. He could feel something, something dark and evil. His brows furrowed in worry. A presence was approaching them at an increasingly fast rate, it was twisted and malevolent. It made his stomach churn and gave him the chills. He needed to keep his guard up, after all this galaxy was ruled by sith. A small blue light caught his eyes. Anakin came to a halt as a small doorway to his left was light up. He felt drawn towards it, it's pull was nearly inescapable. With no hesitation he dove into the room with his hand hovering over his light sabre.

Chewbacca was glad he had a thick fur coat, without it he would have been freezing. He held on to the communications pole and encouraged himself not to look down, it was a long drop. A dark ship was landing on the landing platform. He could only guess that was inside of it. Nothing good. He adjusted himself slightly and stared at the ship as it opened up. His heart froze and his stomach dropped to the floor as Darth Vader strode out, power emanating from his every movement. He shook himself back to reality and immediately told Han of his situation down his intercom with a gruff growl, "What do you mean Darth Vader is here?" Han sounded out of breath, and the sound of thundering footsteps filled the ears of the Wookie. Chewbacca knew that he would not miss if he were to fire at the dark lord, this could be his chance to kill the twisted man, "don't take the shot Chewie," Han read the mind of his best friend and co-pilot, "if you do the whole factory will go on lockdown,"

He barely had time to finish the sentence before Leia's voice cut him off, "Chewie take the shot, Darth Vader is the second in command, if you have a chance to kill him, do it," Chewie had heard enough, he raised his gun and aimed at the dark figure. He pulled the trigger several times. 

Darth Vader spun on his heels in shock as he saw the incoming blaster bolts, homing in on his head. With no hesitation he lifted his troopers off the floor an let their bodies take the fire, he released them and let their limp figures fall, clattering to the floor. He trained his eyes on where the attack was coming from, he was quick to find a Wookie high up on the communications tower above them. Anger pulsated through him, with one hand and a swift movement in the force, the tower that Wookie was on collapsed underneath him, but the beast managed to jump to safety into the massive trash field, and out of view of the dark lord, "it was a Wookie, after him," he ordered his men.

"sir, we are unable to contact overseer Agadeen and the main core is on meltdown," one of the troopers nervously told Vader as he stood tall and braced for the sith's reply.

"It's a rebel attack," Vader hissed through his mask. He froze, he could feel him, it was the pilot who destroyed the death star. He was there in that very factory. Hatred swirled in Vader's cold heart as he clenched his fists tight, he needed revenge. His master would not tolerate the pilot escaping from Vader once more. He turned and entered the massive factory, he had work to do.

Luke watched as the slaves filtered into the weapon containment chamber with Han and Leia, he was about to enter after them when he felt something pulling him into a dark and metallic corridor just to his left. The door closed behind the slaves as he crept into the corridor, "Luke..." a ghostly voice called out the boy's name.

"Obi-Wan?" Luke called out as he crept further into the open, but dark corridor, that was lined with thick metal.

"Luke listen to me very carefully," Luke felt his heart begin to race uncontrollably as fear pumped through his veins, he barely had any time to register what his master had said before he heard heavy mechanical breathing and the thundering of metal boots echo down the corridor. Despite his masters warnings, Luke stayed put, he needed to end Darth Vader once and for all. The man was a monster that had to be stopped. The tall man in a heavy black suit of armour was upon Luke in second, towering over him as he seethed in hatred and anger, "run," the voice of Obi-Wan commanded his pupil, but it was too late. Vader ignited his crimson blade, it's scarlet light reflected off the cold metal surrounding them, illuminating the hall with an eerie red glow.

Luke ignited his lightsaber he felt his negative emotions swirl around under the surface. He hated Vader. Luke's breath shortened and a single bead of sweat slid down his forehead, but he would not let Vader's intimidating appearance get the better of him, "you hold that lightsaber like a child, you have no right to it," Vader's deep and mechanical voice droned from underneath his mask, "you boy are no Jedi... who are you?"

Luke's heart was hammering in his chest as he gripped tightly onto his weapon, "you killed my father!" Luke yelled in anger and frustration. He needed vengeance.

"I have killed many fathers, you need to be more specific," Vader didn't even flinch as Luke clumsily swung the sabre at him with aggression and force. The Dark Lord simply used his own lightsaber to deflect the boy's attack sending him crumbling to the ground.

Luke felt fear squeeze him as he gathered himself together and hastily rose to his feet, "I was there on the Death Star. I saw what you did to master Obi-Wan," Luke harshly placed the blame on Vader as he spat out his words in anger.

"So Obi-wan gave you this light sabre?" Darth Vader hummed in amusement under his mask, with a flick of his fingers, the ignited Light Sabre flew from Luke's hands into Vader's open palm. Luke was astonished and fear began to ripple through him, he took a step back in terror, how had Vader done that? Was that the force? He would ask Anakin, if he lived to see the day, "you will lead me to the pilot who destroyed the Death Star and watch as I strike him down," he commanded.

"I would rather die," Luke spat. Even if he told the truth he was going to die, so what was the point in prolonging his death?

Vader gritted his teeth with annoyance, he raised both the blue and red sabres into a cross over his chest, preparing to behead the boy with his own weapon, "so be it," he spat bitterly.


	6. Hit Me Two Time

Anakin took a step back in shock as he surveyed his surroundings with reverence and fear. He seemed to be in a janitors cupboard of sorts, it was small, cramped and had shelves upon shelves lined with bottles of oil and what looked to be some sort of strong cleaning substance. Everything was illuminated in a calm blue light that echoed through Anakin's very soul. In the centre of the room stood a very familiar man with long hair with half of it pulled into a bobble behind his head. His features was kind and warm and always made Anakin smile, "Qui-gon," he breathed in exasperation.

"Anakin," The Jedi greeted him back.

"Master Qui-gon, What happened? How did I end up here? Is Padmé alive?" He asked as countless questions streamed out of him. He was confused and worried and he still had yet to accept what had become of him.

"Do not worry," Qui-gon explained, soothing the boy's nerves, "you are only here temporarily," he explained calmly.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.

"You have been sent to the future Anakin," he replied, "you must learn what you can about this time and learn from it," his blue light flickered with every word that left his mouth.

Anakin furrowed his brows in confusion, "what happened in this time, where is Padmé? Will I be sent back?" He begged for answers.

"You must learn from this time Anakin," Qui-gon repeated himself, "then you will be returned to where you were taken from," Anakin could hear explosions and people yelling loudly erupting behind him, he whipped around to the door, but it still remained close. Something bad must have happened to the others, he turned around to demand more of an explanation from the Jedi that freed him as a child, however there was nothing there but the imprint on Anakin's memory. He brushed it off, at least he knew that he would be returned to his beloved. For that moment though, he could tell he was needed in combat.

Vader raised the light sabres high as he prepared to decapitate the boy, but something caught his eye. Out of the corner of his red tinted visors, he caught a glimpse of the young man's weapon. He would have recognised it anywhere. He lowered his arms and brought the hilt of the blade closer to his masked face, "wait," he hummed, "I know this blade," he felt anger and hate pulsate through him, this was no doubt his old weapon, but why would Obi-wan give it to the boy? "This once belonged to-" Vader was cut off when the roof in between Luke and him collapsed inwards, separating them. A ginormous ATAT foot had crashed into the corridor, revealing a large weapons facility that was filled with heavy machinery and hundreds of slaves in combat with the stark white storm troopers. Luke took this moment to flee, he charged underneath the legs of the ATAT, escaping from the intimidating dark lord.

He helped in surprise as his own sapphire blade went spinning past him, before impaling an innocent slave with a sickening thud. Luke skidded to a halt as he watched the body of the victim crumple to the floor. He took a step back in horror as the light sabre began to shiver and shake before bursting out of the body in a wave of blue light. Luke watched the lightsaber as it flew up into the air and shot backwards into the open hand of Vader. The room quickly filled with the screams of dead and dying people. Stormtroopers ran out from behind Vader carding a whole host of weapons, some Luke had never even seen before, "kill them all!" Vader commanded in anger, "but leave the pilot who destroyed the Death Star to me," 

Luke felt panic rush through him as he dove behind a large storage container to take cover from the onslaught of blaster fire. His heart was racing and his chest heaving. What had he been thinking? Explosions and eruptions deafened him and shook the very ground below him shook and trembled. He was just a farmer, and now the second in command for the emperor wanted to kill him personally. He couldn't breathe. His eyes darted around before landing on a silhouette he knew all too well. He could see row after row of speeders lined up next to one another. He might have been a moisture farmer, but he was also the best bush pilot in the outer rim. 

Vader sliced down the slaves one by one. Anger blinded him as he used both his crimson blade and his sapphire one to slaughter the lives of the fleeing people. The ATAT was firing at stormtrooper repeatedly, there was no doubt it was under the control of the rebels. Vader wanted to find the boy he had just spoken to, he wanted to impale him on his blade. The ATAT raised a gigantic foot dangerously above Vader's head, before lowering it down in an attempt to crush the Sith Lord. Darth Vader raised his arm above his head, with much effort. He felt the force crackling through his being and resonating with his soul. The ATAT froze in midair, it strained against the sith's grip in vein. Han and Leia looked down in horror from the control panel of the mechanical monster. They could see Vader, seething with rage and anger. They felt the metal around them groan and creek as the ATAT was raised from the floor by Vader, "I don't believe it," Han muttered in disbelief, "this can't be happening, the force doesn't exist, it was just the old man's babbling,"

"Yeah, well tell that to Vader," Leia snapped. The room control room for the mechanical monster was small and confined, so Leia and Han could barely fit in it together. Slaves muttered in confusion and fear behind them, holding each other close in terror. Han's heart dropped as the metal around them began to crack and bend in wards under the force of Vader's deadly grip, "Han, use the weapons," she commanded.

"On it," Han replied, with the flick of a few switches and the aiming of the machine's mechanical head, he was ready to fire. He pressed the last button and an onslaught of red bolts shot from the cannons and obliterated the ground around Vader, "bye, bye, Vader," Han chuffed to himself.


	7. Let’s Go

Luke felt the wind whip through his hair as he sped through the factory. He could feel the angry presence of Vader storming after him in an armoured speeder of his own. Luke hadn't believed that the Dark Lord could have survived the massive barrage of fire from the ATAT, but alas, there he was. The ATAT, was filled with all the remaining slaves that lived, and it was lumbering through the junkyard to reach the Millennium Falcon. Luke however, had realised that somehow the imperials had managed to stop the meltdown, since it had not yet exploded. So, Luke knew there was only one way to make sure that the factory was destroyed. He was going to have to make the core explode manually with his speeder. He could feel Vader gaining on him as he neared the core.

That's when he saw it, the glinting of metal. His lightsaber. It was lying on some rubble, Han must have blasted it right out of Vader's hands. Leaning off the edge of the speeder he leant down and scooped it up. As he felt the presence of the dark being behind him catching up, he could also feel the light of Anakin up ahead, just round the corner. Pressing peddle to metal, he rounded the corner, yelling for Anakin. Sure enough the Jedi was there, before Luke even registered him, Anakin was seated behind Luke on the speeder, "step on it!" Anakin yelled, "there is something twisted heading right for us!"

"That is Vader," Luke hissed, speeding up. He didn't need to see Anakin to know the Jedi was shocked. He could feel the other man's entire body tightening up. "You might want to run," Luke told him, "I am heading for the main reactor, I need to make sure the core explodes.

"I see," Anakin's voice was dark. Luke nearly turned to look at him, but he kept his attention on the corridor ahead. In a matter of seconds, Luke knew Vader was just behind him, he could her the whizzing if his speeder but the reactor was in sight. Luke accelerated again, pushing his speeder forwards. Just before the speeder collided with the reactor, something wrapped around his waist, yanking him off the speeder with a yelp. A wave of heat rushed over the boy, along side a loud bang and a flash of blinding light, which knocked Luke into the blackness of his unconsciousness.

*

When Luke came to, he was quick to notice he was no longer fleeing for his life from Vader towards his immanent death. Bright light burned in his eyes as he propped himself up onto his elbow. With a groan he ran a hand down his face, he glanced around. The familiar scent of gas and oil harassed his nose. Without even looking he knew where he was. The millennium falcon. Throbbing pain erupted in his head making his vision tremble. Luke winced. He recognised the room, it was the bedroom of the falcon. Well Han said it was the bedroom, but really it was just another hollow room Han repurposed for smuggling goods by stripping it. The bed was a shelf built like a dugout into the wall. Heat from the engine below, Luke supposed it wasn't that bad. Since working for the rebellion, Han had installed a few armchairs in the room and a stained, scraggly carpet. It was better than nothing.

To Luke's surprise it was not Han or Leia beside him, but Anakin. The other man was seated in an armchair beside him, his head slumped forwards slightly and his sandy brown hair falling over his forehead. The Jedi jolted awake suddenly as though he could sense Luke himself had awakened. Luke tried to ignore the pain in his head, but it was grasping desperately for his attention. "Sorry," Anakin yawned, stretching his arms out in front of him, "Han is piloting and Leia was tending to the slaves with threepio and R2, so I was set on watching you,"

Luke waved him off, "don't waste your time, your probably better off helping Leia,"

Anakin pursed his lips together, "does your head feel okay?" Luke sent him a meek nod, Anakin grimaced at the sight. "I will see if I can find some medicine-" 

Anakin went to move but Luke grabbed his arm tightly, "it's fine, just leave it. What happened? Is Vader dead?" Luke knew it would be two good if the sith had been killed at last, but he was like a cockroach. Impossible to kill.

Anakin sat back down, a hefty sigh escaped his lips. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he replied, "no, I could still feel Vader's stink through the force when we left. He lives, and he is angry. So angry... a seething rage I have never felt so intense before," 

"That's Vader for you. Pure evil," Luke spat, "he killed my father,"

Anakin's head snapped towards Luke, his eyes wide open, "what? Vader killed your father?"

Luke nodded, he wasn't sure why Anakin was so shocked, "he did, he betrayed and murdered my father along with every other Jedi in the galaxy," Luke felt anger bubbling up in his chest, tingling his vision red. He couldn't wait to impale Vader on his light sabre, just like Vader did to Obi-wan. Even if Obi-wan had held Anakin back, he was still his master and they had been close friends.

"Anger is a pathway to the dark side, don't let yourself indulge it... before it's too late," Anakin's eyes had glassed over, it looked as though his souls had left him, leaving an empty body behind. Luke opened his mouth to question what the other man had just said but he was beaten to the punch, "Luke there is something I must tell you,"

Luke raised his brows. Anakin's face had become much darker, the corners of his lips twitched downwards, "of course, anything," the boy felt worry bubble into his chest. He hoped everybody had made it away from cy-moon one alright.

"I am not who I told you I was," Anakin slouched into his seat, determined and weary eyes met Luke's. The boy did not reply, he simply prompted Anakin to continue, "you were hit be a piece of the exploding reactor. I was so scared, I thought..." he paused, collecting his thoughts, "I thought you might die and I would never get to tell you the truth." Luke cocked his head to the side. He supposed that explained the head ache. Anakin continued, "my name, my real name, is Anakin Skywalker,"

Luke blinked hard. It took a moment for him to process what he was being told. At first he thought it might have been a joke, but from the grave look that was etched into Anakin's features, he knew it was true. "Then that makes you... how?" He sat upright, staring down at his father. His heart began to swell in his chest and he prevented emotion from leaking into his eyes.

"The force sent me here, to learn from the future. I will be returning to my time, the past, eventually. I think your team just happened to find me on Hoth," Anakin explained, his blue gaze fell to the floor. Luke placed a palm on either on of Anakin's shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, you are a hugger, just like your mother then,"

Luke tightened his grip, "I may sound stupid, but I always wished I could have known you. I'm glad I have the chance now, even if it is only temporarily," his heart drooped. Luke was going to have to part from his father, he was already dreading it. The boy knew that what Anakin said sounded ridiculous, but for some strange reason, it felt right. It felt true.

Anakin patted his back gently, "I could say the same thing, because from the sounds of it, it looks like I am not going to make much of an imprint on your life,"

Luke released Anakin and sat up straight, "but you can change that now, if you learn who Vader is you can kill him and Palpatine before the Jedi purges even begin,"

Anakin shook his head, "I cannot kill Palpatine, he may be a Sith but I need him alive," 

Luke scrunched up his nose, "a Sith?" Anakin's brows raised. Luke was beginning to realise there was a lot to the force he did not know about. It was a good thing he had his father to explain it to him and a few spare minutes.


	8. Cracking Space

Vader stared out into inky black space. It was littered with thousands of glittering stars. Imperial ships clogged up the window space, their number nearly as countless as the stars themselves. It had been quite a few weeks since the Cy-moon one factory was destroyed. The Emperor had not been pleased. Vader had payed the price for it. His mechanical breathing grated on his nerves, the suit dug into his already raw flesh. He could only wonder what more pain he would experience before the day was out. "I have my report," Boba Fett's familiar mechanical voice drilled into Vader's eardrums. Vader remained silent, "I managed to track the pilot who destroyed the Death Star down to Tatooine, but he managed to escape my grasps,"

"That is very disappointing," Vader's robotic voice made Boba Fett's sound normal. It was deep, nothing more that a rumble in his ears.

"But I did learn the pilots name," Boba Fett added quickly. They both knew what would have happened had he returned empty handed. Perhaps the bounty hunter knew better than Vader himself. The Sith peered over his shoulder at the bounty hunter's tattered armour and dishevelled appearance. The meeting room behind him was nothing more than empty chairs at empty tables. "Luke Skywalker," Vader's whole body went tense. Surely the bounty hunter was mistaken. Boba Fett took Vader's silence as acceptance, "our business here is done then," with that he strode out of the room.

Vader turned back to the window. Seething hatred began to bubble in his chest. He had a son. Obi-wan had hidden him on Tatooine, a place Vader would never return to. Padmé must have lived long enough to give birth. Vader hadn't killed her. A weight was lifted off his chest at the same time as a much heavier one was placed on it. Palpatine had lied. Of course he had lied, he was a Sith. The rage bubbled out of Vader's control, he clenched a robotic hand, the glass of the window had cracks webbing across its surface. "Skywalker." Palpatine had to die, Vader would make sure he was the one to do it.

*

Anakin sat in the board room. Leia was seated to his left, and Luke to his right. He was beginning to understand why board room were called board rooms, because they left you feeling incredibly bored. Padmé was the one who dealt with meetings, not Anakin, the meetings were the part he hated the most about being a Jedi. Aside from being held back, being turned into an obedient dog and being forbidden from feeling human emotion of course. 

Leia was paying attention to their briefing, watching general Reikan's moves with a well trained eye. Anakin nearly snorted, she reminded him a lot of his wife. Even though she didn't openly say anything, he could tell the Leia was very sceptical that he was Luke's father from the past. The boy had blabbed the moment Han and her had come to visit him in the bedroom. Han simply thought that maybe Anakin had been hit on the head also. The Jedi Knight nearly rolled his eyes at the memory. The room around them was bright as they sat around a long table. Some of the highest ranking officers of the rebellion were present, including Mon Mothma. When Leia had explained Anakin's story, purposefully leaving out time travel and blaming it on him being trapped in ice, there had been an outbreak of harsh whispers in the room. Mon Mothma was quick to silence them all, stating that she herself had known Anakin in her time as part of the Senate, she pledged herself to his loyalty, ultimately convincing the rest of the commanders that he was a useful asset. Anakin had never been so relieved to see her before.

"Well Anakin?" The mention of his name brought him jolting back to his senses, he cocked his head round to Leia, painfully aware that all eyes were on him, "we are running out of options and you fought in the Clone Wars. Do you know any way we could gain an advantage over the empire?"

Anakin stroked his chin, "the Empire relies a lot on their weapons and machinery, just like in the clone wars," he hummed, coming his mind, "there was something, talk of a Jedi artefact sealed away on the dessert island of Screed. It was rumoured to have the ability to shut down machinery, a few scouts were sent to look for it, but they weren't back yet,"

"Why should we waste our time on a myth from an old religion that may or may not even exist?" Reikan hissed, his face tinged red.

Anakin narrowed his eyes. Even if he couldn't sense the general's emotions, he would still be able to tell that he was angry about being proved wrong by Mon Mothma. The Jedi ground his teeth. The last thing he needed was a self righteous stuck up general in his tail. "Well, if you could disable the star destroyers, or even just their shields they would be like sitting ducks. The empire wouldn't see it coming, you could end the war overnight,"

"Anakin is a reliable source," Mothma's calm voice drifted over the table, silencing Reikan before he could argue otherwise. The twenty or so people sitting round the table glanced towards the tall elegant red head with expectant stares, "if he says this is an artefact we should spend time searching for, then it will be in our best interests to trust him,"

"What? How could you possibly trust this man, he says he survived twenty years locked in ice? He is clearly delusional!" Reikan spat.

"The force kept me alive," Anakin breezed over the general's rage. The Jedi could feel his own anger beginning to bubble up, and beside it a strange feeling of guilty. He nearly scoffed, what had the Jedi done to him? They made him feel guilty because he felt human emotions.

The table was thrust into a silence like the grave. A smirk crossed Reikan's smug features, "The Force kept you alive?" He glanced round at his fellow rebels, "I told you he was insane,"

Anakin felt his anger pressing against his temples, but loosing his temper would do him no good. Instead he focused his rage onto the small pencil that lay in front of Reikan, with a flick of his fingers the pencil was thrust into the air, spinning violently. Gasps filled the room, "The force is very much real, and you would do well to believe that," Anakin thrust the pencil downwards, impaling it into the desk, leaving it sticking upright, wobbling from the impact.

"Okay, all in favour of searching for the Jedi artefact, raise your hands now," Mon Mothma raised her own hand, followed quickly be every one else in the room, including Reikan. The Jedi Knight felt a strange sense of pride simmering beneath the surface. Luke turned to him with a smile of his own. Anakin had managed to teach the boy some basics of wielding the force. Anakin was impressed at the rate he learned, the boy could make a pencil shudder and roll around after only a few days practice. He would make a great Jedi if given the correct training.

"Okay, then I say that my team track it down with the help of Anakin and whilst we are gone I ask that you devise a way we can most efficiently end this, once and for all." Leia glanced round at the rest of the table.

"We will get right to it," Another tall and slender general agreed. Anakin felt a smile on his face, even if he wasn't going to be in this time for long, he knew he was going to free it from the slavery of the empire, there was no way he could have left it the way it was. That just wouldn't have been right.


	9. Temple One

Anakin murmured in disgust. All he could see around him sand. The bleak terrain around him promoted memories of being trapped in shackles underneath the scorching twin sons of Tatooine. Anakin gritted his teeth, blocking the memory from his mind. All he could see around him was desert, it stretched for miles into the distance, only breaking for the occasional cactus and a small lumpy silhouette on the horizon. Beads of sweat began to for, on his brow, Screed was a harsh and unbearably hot planet no doubt. Luke scratched his head, "just like being home," he chuffed.

Anakin turned to him with a cocked brow, "you were raised on a desert planet?"

Luke nodded his head, his eyes scanning the horizon, "Yes, Tatooine,"

"I'm sorry about that," Anakin snorted, "it was the same planet I was raised on," 

Luke looked as though he wanted to continue their conversation, but Han and Chewie had finished unpacking the gear. "Okay, and if I call you, you get those engines fires up," Chewie let out a growl, swinging his arms around in emphasis. "Good. Do me a favour will you," Han cocked his head round the walking carpet to stare at the golden protocol droid that had taken refuge from the sun in the entrance of the millennium falcon, "make sure he doesn't touch anything." Chewie let out a light growl. Han slapped his arm with a chuckle, "thanks bud,"

With that, Han retreated from the ship towards where Leia, Luke and Anakin were waiting with R2. "You done moping because we are leaving the carpet behind?" Leia taunted him, sticking a hip out to one side.

"Don't worry princess," Han stopped in front of her mimicking her pose, "you don't have to pry my affection from Chewie, I ain't every really been in to Wookiee's,"

Leia rolled her eyes, "perhaps in your wildest dream, you blithering nerfhearder,"

Anakin felt a smile tug at his lips. Their relationship reminded him a lot of his and Padmé's own. A frown etched into his features as he tuned out the sound of the bickering pair. He had yet to find out what had become of Padmé in this time. Working up the guts to ask Luke was proving more challenging than the Jedi thought, mostly because he knew he would not like the answer. Heartache ripped at his chest, he missed her, his Padmé. Casting his mind back to his time, he carefully considered his options. There was no way he would have let Master Windu kill Palpatine if there was a chance the chancellor could save Padmé, but if he knew that Palpatine hadn't done it in this time, then he would have to reconsider. Windu had helped prevent Anakin from achieving the rank of master and no matter what the young Jedi did, it always seemed to be wrong or unsatisfactory in the eyes of the purple bladed Jedi. Palpatine on the other hand had always been there for Anakin, encouraging him from the sidelines. Yet if he were a Sith Lord, was it nothing more than deception? A headache began to form between his brows as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So where do we start looking Mr Jedi," Han huffed, both his and Leia's face burning red. It would seem their argument had escalated after the Jedi had stopped paying attention. Even Luke seemed slightly on edge.

"Well," Anakin felt a smirk press onto his lips, "I can feel the Jedi temple is supposed to be right in front of us, it's force signature is strong," he turned to Luke, "so where is it Luke,"

The boy's eyes widened, he realised that Anakin was prompting him to use the force. Without even so much as a grumble, Luke closed his eyes over and focused. The Jedi Knight nearly laughed, he was definitely not as head strong as Ahsoka. Anakin felt the boy's mind tapping timidly around him. It reminded him of a child feeling around a dark room for there night light. None the less, he let Luke continue his search. "Found it," Luke's eyes snapped open as he turned to stare at Anakin with a wide mouth, who simply nodded. The boy turned to his friends with a pale face, "the temple is directly below us," he pointed downward for emphasise.

"Well done," Anakin chuffed, turning towards the bright force signature of the temple. Han opened his mouth to comment, but the Jedi beat him to the punch. Raising his hand above the sand, he focused. Locking on to the temple's light, he yanked it upwards through the force. Letting out a wheeze of strain, the sand below them began to rumble. Beads of sweat trickled down his neck, the temple was heaven and the sand was in his way. With a final grunt of effort, the sand in front of them began to distort and shiver, growing into a mound until finally a sandstone door erupted from below. Wiping his brow, Anakin turned to his companions who stare at him dumbfounded. Sending them a smile he motioned to the open doorway that descended below the sand, towards the resting place of the temple, "shall we?"

"Show off," Han grunted before bouncing head first into the darkness of the doorway. Anakin nearly rolled his eyes, stubbornness was a trait that nearly all smugglers seemed to have in common. The rest of the team proceeded to enter the corridor, leaving Anakin last to enter. The smooth, sandy stone walls were shroud in darkness. It had been arduous work lifting the entrance to the temple, but Anakin supposed it was designed to be that way. These temples were only meant for Jedi masters. He nearly snorted. The three humans in front of him had taken to dragging their hands along the walls to guid their way through the suffocating darkness. Anakin needed to do no such thing, he could navigate fine through the force. R2 on the other hand was having a little more issue. The droid was using echo location, but still managed to ram into the wall occasionally on their steep decline.

A set of whistles and whirs caught Anakin's attention as the droid murmured to itself, "no R2, I doubt there will be anything living down here,"

"You understand him?" Luke asked from further down the corridor. Anakin could catch his unguarded emotions, the boy was shocked.

"Yes, I learned to converse with Astro droids at quite a young age, around about the time I built C3PO," Anakin murmured, more to himself than anyone else. He assumed that Luke had inherited the droids from him, there could be no other reason for the boy to have them both.

"You built C3PO?" Luke questioned again, many unanswered and unasked questions were darting through the boy's mind. Anakin could practically feel them as though the boy had said them aloud. The Jedi was going to have to teach the boy how to better guard his thoughts and emotions.

"So your the one the blame for that winy scrap of junk?" Han chortled from further down the corridor. Anakin could sense they were drawing close to the temple.

"Yes, that would be me," Anakin mumbled. His attention was more drawn to the small light that he could see beginning to form at the end of the tunnel, "looks like we are almost there," he cheered half heartedly.

"Thank goodness for that," Leia sighed. It wasn't much longer until they had reached the temple itself, and Anakin had to say it was no less than he had expected.


	10. Mapapapa

Anakin allowed his eyes to scan the vast open room around them. White flames burst to life on the long torches and chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling. "Well that's not ominous at all," Han grumbled.

"No... this place feels so..." Luke struggled for the word as he stepped out into the open temple, his mouth hung wide.

"Light," Anakin interjected. The Jedi master could feel it as well, the light was everywhere, it smothered everything in the temple and for once he felt his mind at rest. The room they had entered was cavernous, built like a tall cathedral with stunning colourful tapestries and beautiful sandstone arches, all lit up by the pure white flames. The centre piece was at the back end of the temple, a large stone wall had words carved delicately into its surface. A gust of wind left his lungs. Long lines of pillars supported a lower roof to either side of them, ancient Jedi relics were placed upon rows of marble podiums, behind them were rows upon rows of bookcases. Jedi knowledge that was thousands of years old. Anakin's breath hitched, maybe here he could find some way of saving Padmé from death. His heart clenched in his chest as hope bubbled up. "Don't touch anything," he sent a pointed look to the smuggler who had already wandered off to look at the relics. The last thing Anakin wanted was an a thousand year old relic smashed to pieces by clumsy hands.

"Start looking for the artefact we need," Leia called to them, she had already begun scouring the podiums in search for the mechanical artefact, Han had taken the opposite side of the room. 

Anakin set his sights else where, he stalked over the intricate murals of Jedi towards the carving on the back wall. R2 and Luke followed timidly behind him. It seemed as though Luke was still shocked at everything around them. "Those that wish for the regression of machinery must travel to a planet of greenery. When found in the temple of Cobblestone pier, the bride of darkness will guide to the seer. Do not trust her eyes, instead trust her lies and enter to collect your prize," Anakin hummed the inscription on the wall.

"Sounds like a riddle of some sort," Anakin huffed, crossing his arms, "can you make a copy of that R2?" Anakin asked the droid who bleeped in response, "Thank you," he murmured.

For, the corner of his eyes, the Jedi could see Luke staring at him warily. No doubt the boy had many questions about his father and how he had come to end up in the future. Anakin had not had a chance yet to sit and speak with him, the rebellion was always in a rush, it seemed the Jedi had barely any time to breathe. "Those numbers, they look like coordinates," Luke suggested, taking a step closer to the Jedi.

"They probably are. This must be how we find the technology relic. What else could 'regress machinery' mean?" Anakin hummed. "I guess this is our next stop then." He turned to Luke nodded his head.

"If we find nothing here then that would be a good lead to follow," Luke nodded.

Anakin wrinkled up his face, the old musty smell of the temple tickled his nose. Turning to Luke, the Jedi Knight drew upon the abundance of light force surrounding them and filled himself with courage. He couldn't delay the inevitable forever, he came to the future to learn. "What happened to your mother?" He asked Luke.

Luke turned to him, "Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru always avoided the topic of my parents. They told me you were a navigator on a space freighter," he shifted his weight from foot to foot and sent a stern stare to the floor. "Drawing information from them was a nightmare, but they told me one thing for sure. Both of my parents are dead,"

Anakin felt something inside of him click. "Why that slimy, slithering little," he let out a guttural snarl. Rage burned in his chest and fists, the corners of his vision tinted red. Palpatine was a liar, and a Sith. Grinding his teeth was doing nothing to quench his anger. Things all around the room began to rattle and shake. Leia let out a shout of fright, Han ran over to her with his blaster drawn. It all made sense now. Palpatine was luring Anakin to the darkside. He was using the Jedi's fear of loosing his wife to manipulate him. He was making promises he never intended to keep. The temple around them began to quake, its beautiful sandstone arches developed long winding cracks. Luke had staggered back a few steps, his face drained of colour. Padmé was dead. It couldn't be true. Tears of rage burned in Anakin's eyes and he clenched his fist, desperately trying to control his anger. No, that's what Palpatine would want, for him to loose control.

"Anakin?" Luke voice called to his father, throwing a cap over his burning fury. Everything went still. The Jedi inhaled deeply, painfully aware of the cautious stares he was receiving. "Are you Okay?" Luke asked.

Anakin meekly nodded his head, "I'm fine. Sorry, I let my anger get the best of me," he apologised, dipping his head in sincerity. The anger still flickered in his chest. It was never something that went away, not unless he was with his wife. Only then was he ever truly at peace. Sucking on his bottom lip, the Jedi brought his gaze up to Luke's cerulean blue eyes. Intent on offering an explanation for his anger, the Jedi opened his mouth to explain, but everything around the, began to tremble once more.

"Would you stop that!" Han called as the princess and him ran over to the father and son duo.

"That's not me," Anakin called over the noisy din. "Run for the exit!" A pillar crumbled and part of the roof collapsed inwards, allowing a river on sand to flow into the temple. The team took off towards the exit with Anakin sticking to the rear end of the group. The temple began to collapse around them, pillars shattered, podiums crumbled, the floor cracked wide open. Han and Leia were swift to enter the small door that led them back to the surface. Luke, was not so lucky. The young boy skidded to a halt, his droid by his feet. The floor had split open, revealing a massive ravine. Anakin hissed under his breath, but he didn't need to tell Luke what to do. The Boy backed up a few step and took a running leap across the crack. Han and Leia were quick to pull him to safety, but Anakin's heart had nearly leaked out of his body. 

Picking up R2 with the force, he flung the droid across the ever expanding ravine, straight into Luke's open arms. The droid let out a squeal of delight as it went sailing through the air. Anakin knew the droid had the ability to fly, but he also knew it was too slow to make it across the crack in time. Luke's eyes caught Anakin's, fear leaked out of his force signature and his very body. Anakin could see why, the ravine had grown to be at least ten meters wide. Any normal person would be doomed, but he was a Jedi. Crouching down low, he sprang up u to the air, flipping onto the other side and landing safely on the little lip that had formed at the base of the corridor. "Go!" He yelled at Han and Leia, who wasted no time on fleeing for their lives. 

Anakin stayed hot on their heels as they raced up the corridor. Noises of destruction snapped at their heels and tore at their ears. The Jedi broke out into the scorching hot desert just as the corridor crumbled and collapsed into a heap on the floor. A few moments went by, Leia and Luke were occupied with catching their breath. Anakin on the other hand was staring off into the vast expanses of the desert. Han threw his hands up into the air, "great!" The Jedi turned to look at the smuggler, "because of your temper tantrum we have lost any chance we had at finding that blooming relic of yours," he hissed in frustration, pointing at the heap of rubble and the patch of shifting sand that surely rested just above the temple itself.

"No we didn't," Luke wheezed, "we got it, we got where we need to go next," Anakin didn't say anything, but he was sure the smug smile on his face told all to Han. The smuggler grumbled under his breath, turned on his heel and stormed back to his ship. Anakin nearly laughed, Han seemed to be having a bit of a temper tantrum himself.


	11. Iokko

Vader stared silently down at the mass of rubble scarring the desert's face. Light was everywhere, Luke had been here. It was a Jedi temple no doupt, he could only wonder how the rebellion had learned of such a fossil, never mind entered it. Inhaling sharply, Vader dipped into his senses, despite all this light, there was something that intrigued him. A shimmering smudge of darkness was left. Rage. Pure rage. Vader felt hope flicked to life in his chest, the only way into the temple was through the force. If Luke had learned to harness his powers, then rage must have been his. Perhaps it would be easier to convert the boy to the dark side than Vader thought. 

The inescapable heat coated his surroundings, warming up his suit to unbearable conditions. Even his cooling system could not keep up with the temperature. The dusty, dry sand dunes allowed unwanted memories of Vader's child hood to claw their way to the forefront of his consciousness. Vader clenched his fist, desperately trying to push them down, but everywhere he looked it was as though he were back on Tatooine. Images of being owned by filth wracked his mind's eye. The hiss of his breath quickened, anger burned in his veins. A beeping on his wrist communicator forced the Sith to turn his attention elsewhere. Picking up the small device, he answered the hologram. A cloaked figure appeared, a hood drawn far over its face, "Lord Vader, I have news of Luke Skywalker," the voice crackled. The Sith was immediately interested, his entire mind focused on what the hologram said, "he is travelling to the planet of Ioko with his team, they intend to collect an old Jedi artefact rumoured to have the power over machinery,"

Vader ground his teeth. He vaguely remembered there being rumours of such a thing, but he had brushed it off as just that. How had the rebellion learned of such an item? Only Jedi had knowledge of such things. Unless the rebellion was working with a Jedi. Vader's rage spiked out of control, his fist clenched around the communicator, crushing it into tiny pieces, the hologram shimmered out of sight. "Thank you commander Fargin," Vader hissed, at the damaged communicator. A weak voice crackled through the line, but it was indistinguishable. Vader dropped the technology to the floor. Grinding his teeth, he swore to himself that he would exterminate the Jedi scum that had taken allegiance with the rebellion. He didn't want anyone poisoning the mind of Luke, Vader was going to have his on by his side, even if he needed to slaughter the entire rebellion to do so.

*

Anakin watched in mild amusement as Luke's face bunched up effort. The boy was trying in vain to get a piolet helmet laid out in front of him to move. They were sitting across from each other on the floor in the common room of the millennium falcon. Han sat in the cockpit, glancing back at the force sensitives every so often. Leia was on the couch, sifting through a book whilst 3PO and R2 battled against the Wookiee in a game of dejarik and somehow Chewbaca was in the lead. The room was small and everything around them, couches and floor included, looked as though it had been rescued from a dumping planet. At least Han had tried to make it habitable, Anakin supposed. Luke let out a long frustrated sigh and snapped his eyes open, "I can't do it,"

Anakin bit his bottom lip, "and you won't do it," Luke stared up at him with raised brows, "if you keep saying you can't." Luke opened his mouth to reply but said nothing. "Believe in yourself and don't try to hard. Relax. Take a deep breath and reach out with the force. Not your mind."

Luke nodded meekly. Closing his eyes, Anakin could hear the soft whoosh of the boy's breath slow. The helmet began to shudder. The Jedi felt hope stir inside him. He could feel Luke reaching out with the force. Tapping into his power. The rear end of the helmet began to lift. It twirled on its side, spinning pathetically in a cyclical nature. Through the force, Anakin could feel everything that Luke felt. The boy was exited, happy and cautious all in one, but something shocked the Jedi. When he reached out to connect with his son through the force, he felt an overwhelming sense of calm. It was serene. The type calm he only felt with Padmé. The helmet lifted into the air, its form steady and still.

"Well done, your strength grows with every lesson," Anakin mused to himself. 

The gear clattered to the floor. Luke's eyes shot open as he beamed at his father. "Well done Luke," Leia congratulated him from the couch. Anakin could even sense Han's disbelief beginning to ease. 

Chewbaca let out a growl of rage as C3PO took control of the game. He want surprised. The droid had been programmed for intelligence after all. Anakin suddenly noticed a large, light force presence they were fast approaching, "we're nearly there," he hummed, standing to his feet to glance over the shoulder of Han Solo. The Jedi was itching to take control of the spacecraft, but he dare not for the fear it would make the already irritable Han more annoyed.

"Yes, I am just heading for a landing, but it will be a difficult one," Han grumbled. Anakin could tell why, the planet of Ioko was blanketed in a dense layer of foliage and greenery. A jungle planet. Gripping onto the seat, Anakin suppressed his need to take control, Han was an able pilot and it was his ship.

As they descended into the planets atmosphere, the green from below rushed to meet them. The light everywhere, the trees even seemed to emit pure force energy. Anakin guided Han to a landing spot close to the most concentrated area of light on the planet. With a clatter and a bang the millennium Falcon safely landed in an open clearing. The team piled off the ship, leaving C3PO and Chewbaca to hold the fort whilst they ventured off to find the Jedi relic.

The moment Anakin's foot landed on the soft soils of Ioko, he was enamoured. This planet was the stark opposite of his home world. Lush, green trees stretched high into the sky, sheltering them from the bright sun. Animals chattered to themselves, startled by the foreign metal object that had fallen from the sky. The grass looked soft to the touch and was covered in a sheen of watery dew. Colour assaulted his eyes, there were flowers of every shade and shape he could ever imagine peaking out of green bushes and wrapping round the chunky trunk of trees.

A streak of black caught Anakin's eyes. A cloaked figure slipped into the tree line, vanishing from sight. The Jedi could fairly easily deduce that the figure mean them no harm. There was no ill intent coming from its force signature. He simply brushed it off as one of the natives. His attention was more focused on the grand stone structure that poked out from the green foliage. Grey stone towers stood tall and carefully carved arches entrapped a carved wooden door. The temple emitted raw force light. That was where they were headed no doubt.


	12. Temple Treasure

The temple had merged with the forest around it. Vines creeped up the brickwork and crawled through gaps in the stone. It seemed even grander on the inside, it's vast hall stretched up almost as high as the trees themselves. It's slit like windows let in streams of light which fell on the cracked mural and floor. Anakin could sense something watching them, but he sensed no ill intent so he payed it no heed. Across from the mighty wooden doors they had just entered was a large curbing set of cracked stone stairs that yielded a high, arching wooden door. It's metal was rusted and it's wood splintered but it held an appeasing aesthetic Anakin could not deny. He pressed onwards, stalking over the fallen pillars and loose plant life. When he reached the base of the stairs, he wasted no time. Pressing on towards the door, he allowed the rest of the team to trail behind him. "Well isn't it another cheery temple. I think the Jedi were running out of ideas..." Han murmured to himself.

"They weren’t the most creative to begin with," Anakin sighed, placing a palm on the wooden door.

Just as he was about to push it open, a voice tore through the air, "STOP!" Anakin froze and turned on his heel. A hooded figure had appeared in the entrance of the temple, her hood pulled over her face and a cloak that concealed every inch of her body. Long chocolatey, curly hair poked out her hood and descended half way down to the floor. She must have been the one watching him. The woman walked towards them with pace, her cloak flew out behind her revealing white clothing with an old blaster hanging from her hips. Anakin's chest tightened as she approached. Everything about her was familiar. Even her walk. Anakin could never forget her walk.

Brushing past Luke and Leia, she stopped right next to Anakin, beside the door. His jaw had gone slack. The others, clearly sensing Anakin's relaxation and shock, chose not to say anything. The height of the woman was exactly as her remembered, short, nearly a head and a half below him. Placing a hand on the rotting door, she pushed it open a fraction of an inch. Anakin was met with an awful view and a sickening feeling of the darkness. The dark side was strong in that room. From the sliver Anakin could see, he could make out bodies. Lots of dead bodies, all of them impaled on their own blade or shot by their own blaster. He could also make out the beginnings of a tall statue, all he could see were the feet and the belly of a seated, cross legged woman. Stepping back from it he returned his gaze to the woman, her face was still concealed by the cloak but it didn't fool him. 

Striding down the steps, Anakin could hear her padding behind him. Han went to glance into the sliver of the next room displayed, quickly backing away and turning to follow Luke and Leia who were watching Anakin intently as he turned to face the woman. "I though you were dead," he murmured, the words barely passed her lips.

"I thought you were dead," she replied, "you look so... young?" Anakin raised his brows. Of course, in this time he was supposed to be a greying middle aged man, not the twenty year old sprout that he was.

"Are you going to leave us in suspense?" Leia asked, cocking her hip to one side. "Who is this woman?" 

Anakin stared between the two with an open mouth. He ran a hand through his hair, "this is Padmé Amidala," he gestured to her form, pulling her hood back gently with his free, human hand. Leia's face rose with shock. She no doubt recognised the name because of Anakin's ramblings when he awakened after he had been sent forward in time. Padmé had grown older. Wisps of grey tinted her hairline and cracks of age were beginning to show on her face. The once youthful and bright eyes had become weary and tired. Yet she was still just as beautiful as he remembered. "My wife, and Luke's mother,"

The looks of shock on Anakin's team member’s faces were priceless. Even Padmé herself seemed surprised, "Luke?" Her delicate voice asked the sandy blonde haired young man. He shakily nodded his head. A hand sprung to her mouth and tears to her eyes, "my, look how big you've grown," Luke sent her a sheepish smile, to which she returned by running to him and enveloping him in a hug.

"I guess we know where Luke gets his height from," Han snorted. The smuggled was leaning back on his feet. A look of boredom pressed into his face, but he couldn't hide his feelings from the Jedi. Han was feeling happy, but insecure. Anakin pinned it down to the man not having a good relationship with his own parents.

"But he looks just like his father," Padmé mumbled pulling herself away from her son and cocking her head round to Anakin, "Where is Leia?"

The room went silent. "Leia?" Anakin asked, his brows raised. 

Padmé pursed her lips, "we had twins Ani,"

Anakin's head was spinning. He felt as though the ground was trembling below him. Glancing to his Leia, he noticed how pale she looked. The princess shifted uneasily on her feet. Perhaps it was someone else of the same name? Yet Luke and Leia were the same age, and he could not deny how similar the two women looked. Luke turned to his sister, his brows raised, "were you... adopted Leia?"

The princess inhaled sharply through her nose, trading shocked glances with Han, "I was, by Bail Organa,"

Padmé's mouth curled into a smile, "Yes, Bail was a close friend of mine. Obi-wan told me he would give you to the Organa’s," she nodded. There were unspoken words on Leia's lips as she processed that. Anakin could pick apart every emotion the woman felt. The princess was happy, shocked and relieved all at the same time. Without a moment to spare Padmé had wrapped both her children in a death hug, refusing to let go. Han stood a few steps up, watching the exchange with wide eyes. Anakin felt his heart twinge, and once again, peace cradled has heart. His family, all together safe and sound. A giddy feeling of accomplishment tickled his insides.

"And you," Padmé turned on her heel, striding towards her husband with that terrific grace he remembered so well. The woman had barely changed in twenty years. "why do you look so young? How are you alive?"

"I am from the past," he told her, "the force sent me into the future," explained numbly.

Padmé cocked her head to the side, taking a cautious step forward, "so you are... young Anakin?" He nodded with a grin, pulling his wife into a hug. Every inch of him begged not to let go as he inhaled her floral scent, but there was so much more he wanted to know. Sensing his curiousness, Padmé pulled out of the hug and stared up at him with those rounded doe eyes of hers. "Padmé, why weren't you with Luke and Leia? Why are you here?"

Padmé's face fell. "Well, I gave birth not long after the Jedi purges began," she huffed, visibly tensing up and her eyes glassing over. Anakin's hand twitched out to comfort her, but he pulled it back to his side, wanting to know more. "Obiwan and Yoda were with me. Obi-wan knew that Palpatine, or Darth Sidious would want the two strongest force sensitives on his side, so we separated them and concealed them the best we could. I was against it, but after days of gentle persuasion they convinced me," her chocolate eyes clouded with tears as she peered over her shoulder with affectionate eyes towards her children. "Obi-wan and Yoda told me I needed to hide, for if I was captured by the empire, I’d have no way to shield from the Emperor’s invasion of my mind. The twins safety would have been compromised,” she trailed off, her eyes dropping to the floor. “Upon meditating, they both saw the same thing. I was to remain here.”

Anakin gritted his teeth. What a fate had befallen his beloved. After everything Anakin had seen and stressed about, she had not died. A chord of tension slackened within him. She would be safe, even if it meant she was in solitude. Anakin wanted to hold her tight and never let go, but Luke's communicator blared to life.

"Captain Skywalker, Vader's ship had been spotted approaching Ioko. We would advise a swift departure.”


	13. Chapter 13

Anakin felt his gut drop. The room went deathly silent and Padmé looked as though she was going to feint. "Vader?" She murmured. 

"You know, the emperors most vicious enforcer. Tyrant of the galaxy. Vanquisher of the Jedi?" Han murmured as her began to ascend the steps towards the door.

Padmé's eyes were wide, she rubbed her neck with her hand, "I see," she replied, though her eyes were somewhere far away. Anakin raised his brows at her, but she simply shrugged him off. Weird, she had never done that before. The Jedi clicked his jaw, in the future, it seems that everything changed.

"How do we get in here without dying?" Leia asked as she peered through the crack in the doorway.

"I don't know." Padmé replied as she joined her children at the doorway. "I only saw it a few times, but an entire crew came looking for the artefact. They entered the room, there was the sound of shuffling, and the next thing I knew they were all dead," she explained softly.

Anakin's mind began to hurtle, "R2, what was the riddle we saw at the last temple." Surely if the rhyme was on the same mural as the coordinates for this place, then it was relevant is some way, shape or form. The droid let out a series of beeps and whistles. "Those that wish for the regression of machinery must travel to a planet of greenery. When found in the temple of Cobblestone pier, the bride of darkness will guide to the seer. Do not trust her eyes, instead trust her lies and enter to collect your prize," Anakin translated numbly.

"Don't trust her eyes..." Luke scratched his chin. "From the little I can see there is a statue in the next room. Perhaps looking into its eyes was what killed those men?" Luke suggested with a shrug. Anakin nodded, it was certainly plausible. He himself had been thinking the same thing.

"But what about the.. lies...?" Han cocked his head to one side.

"The mouth. The mouth of the statue, people lie from their mouth, perhaps that is where the relic is?" Leia suggested. The twins had teamed up to figure their little riddle out, so Anakin supposed it was his turn to retrieve it. A dark presence was creeping up on them. Sickening power he had felt only once before was drawing near. Vader. They didn't have much time. Anakin made start for the statue, carefully closing his eyes so that he wouldn't even be tempted to look. "What are you doing? We should reevaluate, we could be wrong. You could die," Leia huffed from behind the Jedi.

Anakin didn't turn around or open his eyes, "I hear it now. You sound just like your mother." He huffed before delving into the room. The Jedi could feel the tension that gripped his team's force signatures. They were scared, for him. Padmé's was the worst, but Anakin could sense that it was not just worry for him that was putting her on edge. Reaching out with the force, Anakin safely made it to the base of the statue. His entire team was washed with calm, nearly making him snort. Using the force as his eyes, the Jedi clambered up the ginormous statue. It had to be at least fifty foot. The higher he got, the more intense the dark side energy became. It was strangling him, choking him. It sent electrical chills running down his body a searing flames licking across his skin. Shivering, he continued his climb. 

The stone was cold and slick beneath his skin, but he managed to reach the head quickly. Bracing his feet against the arms, Anakin felt around gingerly with his finger tips. He could feel every grove, bump and chip in the stone. Using the force to guide his hands, he found his way to the plump lips. True enough they had a wide, circular opening between them. Delving inside the mouth Anakin's hands grasped a long and thin metal object. For a second, all Nankin could see was orange. Padmé's voice was screaming his name, her youthful face contorted in pain as she pulled in her dying breaths. The Jedi tore the vision from his mind. Padmé would not die. He knew it for sure. Pushing himself off the statue with a grunt, he gripped the object close to his chest and jumped back down to the floor. 

Scampering out of the room with his eyes shut, Anakin slammed the door closed behind him. Everything moved so quickly. The first thing he noticed was the frayed and terrified emotions rolling off his friends in waves. The next was the dark figure standing in the grand opening of the temple. A black, metal man with a crimson light saber and a flowing cape. That must have been Darth Vader. His presence was unmistakable, pure, unbridled hatred. Padmé's hood was drawn close over her face. The thing Anakin had grasped looked to be nothing more that a long thin metal pole with curved and arching carvings sketched into its side.

Anakin thrust the pole into a shivering Luke's arms. "Run, I will deal with him," Leia began to object, but Anakin was halfway down the steps before she could utter a word. Anakin halted in his tracks a few meters from Vader. Although the Sith's mask was inscrutable, his force presence was not. The Sith was angry, but most of all shocked.

"You are dead!" Vader boomed, the temple around them began to quake. Stones crumbled, falling from the ceiling. The roof shuddered on its supports. "I killed you," the Sith growled, his dark figure loomed over Anakin's.

"Sorry, but I’m still kicking," Anakin hissed back, drawing his light sabre. Before he had any time to react, Vader had attacked. Anakin managed to bock the downward strike above his head, but the sheer force jarred his joints. Footsteps echoed through the building. Anakin needed to draw Vader away from the door so that his team could pass.


	14. Temple Clash

The whooshing breath. The inhuman strength. The impossible height. The all encompassing black suit. It all made sense. Darth Vader was injured. At first Anakin had just thought the buttons on Vader's chest piece were for show, but he was very wrong. They were the armour’s weak point. Vader was living inside of a machine. No, he was living as part of a machine. The Sith Lord's attacks were relentless, they were pushing Anakin into a corner, but he was allowing it. He needed to clear a path for Luke. Vader's attention was aggressively focused on the Jedi, making it easy for the team to slip by unnoticed along side Padmé. Even R2 hardly made a noise. 

As soon as Anakin felt their presence exit the temple, he unleashed his power. Sprinting up into proper form he lunged for Vader's control box. The Sith automatically assumed a more defensive position, his elbows were locked by his sides and his entire body rigid. Anakin leapt over Vader and attempted to slash his back, but it was easily stopped by the crimson blade. The Jedi felt the Sith dip into his rage, hurtling objects towards him. Anakin barely had time to move out of the way of the rocks. "Why won't you just disappear," the Sith hissed through his mask.

"I could say the same for you,"Anakin snarled back, lunging for Vader again. They locked sabres. The masked tyrant bore down on the Jedi. The Jedi gritted his teeth. His advantage over his opponents was normally strength, he was going to have to change his tactic if he was to win this duel. Vader suddenly whipped round, swinging his crimson blade and swatting another sapphire blade out the way. Anakin's eyes went wide, "Luke, no!" He called over the mountainous dark form of the Sith. He had been so wrapped up in the duel he hadn't felt Luke's approaching force signature. 

Jumping to the side as rocks were fired towards him. He prepared to lunge for Vader again, but Anakin wasn't quick enough to stop Vader from plunging his deep crimson blade into Luke's shoulder. The boy cried out, staggering back a few steps. The Sith yanked his blade free and turned to face his original opponent, but Anakin's eyes were trained on Luke. The Jedi's grip on his light sabre tightened. Luke fell to the floor, grasping his shoulder, strained gasps struggling to reach his lips. "You will suffer for that," Anakin spat. His whole world had become tinted red. Inescapable, intense rage tore at his chest and shoved him into action. 

Swinging at Vader repeatedly, flashes of purple light lit up the open temple. Anakin was blind to everything else but his foe. Pressure rushed to his temples. He focused his strikes against Vader's control box. The pair danced across the rocky floor. Vader flung whatever he could at the Jedi and then lunged in with his own attacks. Anakin found himself getting slightly overwhelmed. Whatever move he chose to do, Vader knew exactly how to counter it. That was probably due to how many Jedi the cumbersome creature had killed. Chest heaving, heart pumping, the two locked blades again, "yes, give in to your anger," Vader chided him. "Maybe then you will finally leave," the pair began locking blades again.

Anakin was nearly snapped from his rage induced frenzy. That was exactly what the Sith wanted. For the Jedi to loose all that made him a Jedi. Anakin took in a deep breath through his nose, calming his thoughts. Anakin didn't need the dark side because he knew Padmé wasn't going to die. He would never let Vader win. Desperately trying to calm himself, he allowed for the pair to enter a battle of strength. The Jedi needed time to think, to clear his thoughts. Yet he didn't have much time, Vader was pressing down on Anakin's sabre with immeasurable power. Anakin was loosing. Panic ensued. Anger was still there, it had made him think irrationally. 

A deep hum filled the air, pulling Anakin from his thoughts. The pressure from Vader's blade ceased all at once. The dark silhouette crumpled to the floor. At the same time, the Jedi's right hand stopped all function, dropping his disengaged light sabre. He picked it up swiftly, leaving himself unarmed for only a fraction of time. Anakin swivelled his head. In the doorway, Leia was standing tall, spinning the Jedi relic above her head. Of course. Vader was part of a machine, it made sense the relic would shut him down. They needed to leave. "How did you know...?" Anakin called across the temple to Leia.

"The relic told me," She called back, lowering the baton. "We don't have much time, this effect only lasts a few minutes after you stop spinning it,"

Anakin nodded, he raised his blade high to impale the masked monster. "Wait!" Padmé called from across the temple, "he is far more useful alive than dead!" The temple around them began to rumble.

Anakin froze mid strike. Han had already gathered Luke from the temple floor, "you should kill him," Leia called. "If he lives then he will go on to murder hundreds more and those lives will be on our hands,"

"But he is defenceless," Padmé cried. Anakin gritted his teeth. If it was that easy to detain Vader, then they could capture and extract information from him in the future. He had been in a situation like that before, he had succumbed to the pressure and killed an unarmed man. Dooku. He wouldn't do it again. Especially not since that snake Palpatine had been the one manipulating the Jedi from the start. The temple around them began to collapse. Anakin's eyes sprang to Vader, he was pulling the entire temple down. There Vader lay, motionless. Anakin could sense through the sith’s force presence that he was not entirely conscious. That the only thing keeping him ticking was his rage and the force. Rocks came crashing to the ground between Anakin and the Sith. 

The Jedi had no choice but to run from the collapsing temple. If he hadn't, he would have died. Anakin broke out into a sprint, tearing out into the jungle just behind the rest of his fleeing team. Speeding past the members, he used the force to quicken his pace and pulled the ignition for the falcon from Han's belt. The Jedi leapt over rocks and bushes, taking a beeline, ducking under trees, straight towards the ship. Anakin reached the familiar spaceship long before any of the others, in a mad frenzy he rushed inside, lowering the ramp for his team and flaring up the engine. The Jedi sat impatiently for a few seconds, his heart drumming in his ears. The console for the spacecraft hadn't changed much since the clone wars. There were only two or three buttons that Anakin didn't know anything about. The Wookiee ran into the cockpit, arms flailing in fury. Anakin paid him no heed. Hearing his team mates draw close, the Jedi yelled at them to get in.

Anakin's mind was moving at one hundred miles an hour. Feeling his teammates aboard the vessel he sealed the door and began lift off. As the ship began to rise from the air, the Jedi relaxed into his seat with a soft sigh. Han scowled at him from the floor next to Luke's unconscious body. Padmé was fussing over him, trying to apply pressure to the wound. Anakin opened his mouth to ask how Luke was, but he was cut off by the ship shuddering to a halt in mid air.


	15. Crash Landing

Anakin's eyes nearly popped out his skull when he stared out the rear view mirror of the ship. There was Vader, little more than a black speck next to a mass of grey rubble, holding his hand out and gripping the ship through the force. The entire vessel shook and quivered under the mighty grip of the Sith. "You should have killed him," Leia hissed, her posture tight with rage. Padmé sent her a gentle look, to which the young princess turned away from.

Anakin gritted his teeth, part of the ship was completely crushed and damaged. Groaning in frustration, he used the ship's guns to fire upon Vader. Stripes of light zoomed towards the Sith, forcing him to release his grip. With that Anakin hurtled off into the sky. The Jedi cursed under his breath, "the ship is damaged, we are going to have to land at the nearest habitable planet,"

"Degobah..." Luke murmured, "to the north of Ioko,"

Anakin let out a huff of air. Since Luke was unconscious, it was fair to say that it was the force speaking through him. "Degobah?" Han scrunched up his face as he shifted through the medkit with Padmé. "I haven't heard of that planet before,"

"Well Degobah it is," Anakin murmured, ascending north of Ioko. The Jedi could feel anger rolling off Leia in waves. He knew she wanted Vader dead, they all did, but the Sith had been unarmed, immobilised and the temple had collapsed. There was not much that could have been done. Anakin reaches out to his daughter through the force. Sensing it, Leia sent harsh eyes in his direction, cocking a brow. The Jedi sent her a reassuring smile. To his relief, she sent one back and the anger that she had been stewing in thinned a little. She was definitely his daughter with a temper like that, he retorted in his mind.

A few minutes flew by. Leia and Padmé had moved Luke to the Falcon's bedroom whilst Han began to conduct maintenance on the droids. The Jedi could sense that the smuggler was not happy with Anakin flying his vessel, but so far had said nothing. 

That's when the Jedi felt it. A strong dark presence in the force. Overwhelmingly so. There in the distance was a small green planet. Anakin's heart clenched. That was it. He knew that was it. Degobah. He could feel it in his gut. "Degobah is coming up," Anakin called to Han. The ship shuddered and shook, they didn't have much time.

"Just don't damage my ship more," The smuggler grunted, tightening a spare part on R2. Anakin snorted in response. Han came to co-pilot with Anakin, leaving the Wookiee to finish the droid’s maintenance. C3PO loudly complained, but all of the cabin members had learned to tune it out. Anakin whizzed around the controls, preparing for landing. "So you're a pilot?" Han asked, the swirling green planet grew larger and larger.

Anakin chuckled to himself, "the air has always been more of a home to me than the ground,"

Han hummed in curiosity. "Luke's like that. He loves being a pilot. Musta got it from you," 

Cocking his head round to the smuggler, Anakin began to ponder. Indeed there were many of his own traits he could pick out in his children. Including their force sensitivity. A tickle of joy filled his chest, they even looked like him and Padmé. Not to mention she lived through childbirth, which meant Anakin's visions had either been planted there or were wrong. Stranger things had happened. Studying the pilot, Anakin noticed something strange. Han was staring out into the stars with a sad expression. Even his force presence was miserable. Digging deeper into the smugglers mind, the Jedi was quick to find out why. Han was worried. For Luke. Anakin's chest tightened, "when we land in Degobah I can assist Luke in his healing. It was a lightsabre wound so he won't bleed out. He should be fine,"

"How can you know that?" Han huffed, crossing his arms. His brows were pulled into a deep frown.

Anakin gritted his teeth for a moment, trying to find the best words to explain his knowledge to the smuggler. He decided it was best if he didn't speak at all. They were nearly upon Degobah, the ship shuddered occasionally, reminding them that it was damaged. Anakin sat back into his seat and yanked off the glove on his right hand. There, concealed beneath the fabric was a metal, mechanical hand. Han's eyes grew wide, "you really are from the past," he grumbled. 

Anakin laughed, pulling his glove on. "Get ready, I think this will be a bumpy entry," Han let out a strangled laugh as they entered Degobah's atmosphere. The ship began to quake and the previously green haze that blanketed the planet focused into thousands of towering, tall trees. Leia and Padmé rushed into the cockpit, where Han gently explained they were drawing close to the planet. "Don't worry, we'll land in one piece," Anakin sent the girls a wink, earning him an identical set of eye rolls.

Just as the Jedi predicted, their landing was not easy. The ship shuddered, damaged parts of the ship broke off.The entire space craft quivered and trembled and the falcon descended into the night air. Holding his breath, Anakin and Han rushed around the control panel, ensuring the descent was as gentle as possible. When they finally crashed onto the ground, everybody jolted forwards and things went flying around the room. The ship's power completely cut, leaving them in utter darkness. "We made it!" Han cried sardonically.

"Okay, I think we should rest and then explore the ship's damage and surrounding forest in the morning," Leia commanded. Anakin couldn't see her, but he could feel her slight fear.

"Good idea," Han murmured, "let's go get some blankets," with that the pair up and left Anakin alone with Padmé in the cockpit. 

The Wookiee groaned in the background. "Oh dear, who turned out the lights," C3PO asked from through in the living room. 

Anakin and Padmé burst out laughing. Feeling a hand grasp his shoulder gently, he leaned into her touch. "I missed you Ani," her whole force presence dropped. 

Anakin felt her suffocation grief, horror and disbelief smother him. He pried her hand off his shoulder and clasped it in his own, "it's okay, I'm here now,"

Padmé sniffled. Anakin stood to his feet, wishing he could see her. Embracing him into a hug, she murmured into his chest, "Yes, but you will leave eventually, you will go back to the past,"

Anakin ran his hand hand through her long curls, "Yes, and I will set everything right. I won't let myself die, not when I know I have you to live for," he replied, planting a kiss gently on the top of her head.

"Just promise me one thing," she gripped him tighter.

"Anything," he replied. His heart was racing. What could she possibly want him to do? Was it something as simple as staying alive, or something personal like running away and raising their children on Naboo? He had given serious thought to both.

"Don't listen to Chancellor Palpatine, stay as far away from him as you can. Don't let him fool you," she cried gently into his chest.

Anakin's heart clenched. What could have possibly happened to make her so upset? "I don't need Palpatine anymore, I know that you will live through childbirth now. I don't need him," he explained.

Padmé was about it reply when Han and Leia loudly reentered the room. The Wookiee who had fallen silent, no doupt listening to their conversation, let out a happy call. "We got blankets!" Leia cheered.


	16. Dayo

Anakin woke up with his neck in extreme pain. Grumbling, he ran a hand down his face with a weary sigh. Pushing himself up, the first thing he noticed was Padmé. She was seated at the edge of the couch he rested on. Padmé's gentle eyes were watching him, their brown orbs saturated with intense sorrow. Anakin reached out to her, pushing the thin blanket that had been draped over him down slightly. The woman grasped his hand softly before it could reach her face, "you should go and see Luke," her soft voice murmured. The sun had risen, casting the falcon in an eerie orange light. The Jedi blinked, he didn't need to be force sensitive to tell that Padmé was not telling him something. Nodding his head, he pretended not to notice the unshed tears that pricked her eyes, and traveled to the Millennium Falcon's bedroom. Upon entering, the first thing he noticed was that it was darker than the main room, probably because there was only a few narrow windows. Luke was resting in the bed, a blanket drawn up to his chin. Anakin gripped his hand into a fist. If only he had been quicker, stronger, then he could have prevented Luke from getting hurt. 

Taking a deep breath the Jedi approached his sleeping son. For what he was about to do, all he needed was positive emotions. Sitting down by Luke's side, he was quick to notice the slick sheen of sweat that coated the boy's body and the way his breaths were ragged and uneven. All things considered, Luke was lucky Vader had only damaged his shoulder. Anakin raised his hands over the boy and channelled all the light side power he could muster, threading it through Luke's very force signature. Anakin felt his brows pucker, Vader had the perfect opportunity to kill Luke, the pilot who destroyed the Death Star (a big planet destroying ship that meant a lot to the empire, or so he was told) and an infamous, hope giving rebel. The Jedi shook it off, he was probably looking too far into it. Vader was in a seemingly unprovoked for fit of rage. There was no point in trying to apply logic to a man in a state such as that.

Focusing all his energy, Anakin maintained his healing touch. He could feel Luke's discomfort ease and his temperature drop. The Jedi smiled to himself. Luke was doing fine. Just fine.

*

Later that evening the crew of the Millennium Falcon had gathered in its main room, including Luke who had a blanket wrapped around him and his mother who did nothing but fuss. Anakin could tell that half of the fuss was because Padmé didn't want to be confronted by Anakin about what had happened when he had awoken. "I've begun making repairs but I think will be a while before this baby can fly again," Han huffed, throwing himself down onto the couch beside Leia, who lent in towards him. So far they had managed to return power to the vessel. Anakin had been helping Han and Chewie all day to fix up the trash bucket he called a ship, taking breaks to help heal Luke whenever he could. The Jedi was mentally and physically drained. He sat at the base of the couch at Padmé's feet. Luke was sitting next to his mother and 3PO. The boy had some colour in his face and his eyes had regained a little of their normal life. 

"I sent a message to the rebels as we entered orbit, they know we have the artefact and they know what happened, but the signal was cut off when we entered the planet’s electrical field, before I could give coordinates," Leia grumbled, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. Han's eyes rested on her gently, not in the same scolding way he looked at everybody else.

Anakin jutted his jaw to one side. Sandy locks of hair fell into his eyes, "who is Vader?" he asked, his voice strong and emotive. It was something he had been pondering a while. Vader had used some familiar sabre forms, but he fought like no one the Jedi had faced before. The Sith was vicious, brutal, he held nothing back. He fought like he had nothing to loose. Perhaps he didn't.

"No one knows," Leia hummed, her face twisting down and her force presence filling with anger. "It doesn't make much of a difference to the rebellion who he is, as long as he is stopped." Yet in Leia's mind she wasn't just thinking about stopping him, she was dreaming about seeing him dead. The Jedi gritted his teeth, the Sith must have truly done something awful to her.

"He used to be a Jedi," Luke told them, his soft voice crackling. "He betrayed all the other Jedi, hunted down and killed them all. Including you," Padmé's force presence seized up, but Anakin resisted the urge to turn around and look at her, he knew she wouldn't want that kind of attention. He could ask her about it later.

"I see," Anakin hummed. If he was going back to the past, he would hunt down and stop Vader before he could lay a mechanical hand on any other Jedi. Although, Anakin had not heard of many half machine force users. Perhaps he sustained the injuries after the Jedi were culled? "How did I die?" He asked, turning his head to Luke. 

"I don't know that either," Luke hummed, his glassy eyes stared off into space. Anakin nodded, but his heart sank. If he knew how he was to die then maybe, just maybe, he could avoid it. Silence filled the already thick air.

"So Luke, care to explain how you knew Degobah was nearby to Ioko?" Han asked, cutting the silence clean open. Anakin nearly smiled. It would seam the smuggler of steel didn't like the quiet. He could never have stuck at being a Jedi then.

"Old Ben Kenobi told me. He said to go to Degobah and search for the Jedi master Yoda," Luke explained, his eyes flicking to Anakin's to search for any sign of recognition.

"Master Yoda?" Anakin's brows raised, "on this overgrown waste of space?"

"You know him?" Luke asked, his voice sounded hopeful.

"Every Jedi knows Master Yoda," Anakin snorted.

Loud knocking noises echoed through the ship, startling Anakin and the rest of the team. The Jedi reached out with the force, the planet was so thick with dark side energy that it was difficult to sense the force signature of other people who weren't in a close proximity to him. Yet he could sense something, a strong, light signature close by. It was hazy though, like trying to figure out what was in your hands only you are blindfolded and the object had a blanket around it. Instead he opted for his sabre, drawing it and pulling himself to his feet. "Woah," Han called, standing to his feet, "it's probably just rocks falling on the ship or something,"

"No, I can feel someone near by," he murmured, making a beeline for the exit.

Han trailed behind him, exasperation rolling off him in waves. Anakin could faintly hear the man complaining, but he focused on the force presence that just kept getting stronger and stronger. Anakin opened the ship's ramp out into humid night air. Though he could see very little, he instantly recognised the presence. Nearly dropping his sabre, the Jedi turned his weapon off, "master Yoda," he greeted the short little alien that had begun its trek up the ramp.


	17. Training

Anakin stared, perplexed at his old Master. Yoda had already fought with R2 twice and even poked fun at Chewbaca. He was nothing like the Jedi remembered. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Anakin could see Yoda sending him cautious side glances and even staring when he presumed the Jedi had his back turned. The team of the millennium falcon had taken to sitting on the couches and watching the little green alien, who was squabbling with R2 over a small spanner he had found on the ground. Growing tired of the petty behaviour, Anakin broke the small skirmish, "Master Yoda, what are you doing here?"

"Impatient as always, I see you are," Yoda mused to himself before leaning on his stick and straightening himself up. "In exile, I am. Fail the Jedi, I did," he explained.

"So this is the grand master Yoda?" Luke asked, raising his brows. "The one old Kenobi told me to find?"

"Yes, he was master of the Jedi," Anakin explained, sitting back into his seat.

"Aren't you a little small to be a Jedi?" Han snorted, Chewbaca roared in agreement. Anakin nearly rolled his eyes trust the smuggler to always put size first. If only he knew the strength that Yoda had, the sheer power the master commanded in the force. Maybe then he would not be so insolent.

"When nine hundred years old, you reach, be six foot smaller, you will," the old alien chirped at Han, earning him a wounded grunt in return. Anakin sensed Yoda's curiosity, so he opened up his force signature, giving permission for the Master to ask questions and to know wether or not the answer was truthful. "Thought you were gone, did I," Yoda turned to Anakin, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm from the past," Anakin explained. "From before the Jedi purges,"

The small green alien nodded, sensing the Jedi's honesty and scratching his chin with two fingers, "interesting, that is," he mumbled more to himself, his eyes glassing over. Turning to Luke he proceeded to ask, "For what purpose did Obi-wan send you?" Yoda asked, rolling his shoulders back and putting on a pensive stare. Anakin could feel that the Jedi master was weaker than the Yoda of the past.

"He told me that you were train Leia and I to become Jedi," Luke explained haphazardly. Padmé's whole aura seized up, and Anakin felt as though his eyes were going to bulge out of his skull.

"No, too old are you," Yoda replied with a weary sigh, unable to catch Anakin's eyes. The Jedi took a moment to process what had just been said. From his peripheral hearing, he could tell Luke was asking the master to change his mind and Leia was protesting at being dragged into it. Anakin remembered standing in the centre of the Jedi council and being told the exact same thing. He remembered the angry stares and solemn faces. He remembered the desperation he felt to become strong so he could protect his mother. Luke was feeling the same thing. The desperation to protect. To defeat.

"Master Yoda, you must reconsider," Anakin insisted, cutting off a plea from Luke. "If they are to defeat the empire, them they must have the force on their side. You are their last hope." The Jedi master did not seem convinced, he jutted his jaw out to one side and furrowed his brows. "You too once said I was too old to be trained, yet here I am,"

Yoda's eyes widened. Shaking his head, he opened his mouth to protest however a shift in the force silenced him. Anakin heard something whispering faintly into Yoda's ears. Obi-wan. Anakin's heart clenched. He and his master had been through a lot, but they were still friends and it still hurt to see his friend dead. Yoda deflated, his long pointy ears drooped slightly, "help you I will,"

*

Padmé sat upon a grotty wooden tree stump next to master Yoda. The swamp was not much brighter during the day. The air was humid and the ground moist. Fog drifted through tall silhouetted trees and curled around the ankles of the twins. They had taken to sparring with sticks, jesting at each other and occasionally managing to land a stab. Padmé watched in amusement some twenty meters away. Finding her eyes drifting to the Falcon, her heart clenched. There was Anakin, just the way she remembered him. He didn't have the burning rage and hatred in his eyes she remembered from Mustafar. He was not yet corrupted. He was still her Ani. Han, Anakin and Chewbaca had taken to repairing the ship along side R2. Every so often she would hear one of them shout in frustration or surprise. Each time she giggled a little. C3PO had simple refused to leave the haven of the ship, he claimed he 'didn't want to get his circuits dirty'. 

"Long time since we spoke, it has been," Yoda mused, pulling her from her thoughts. Padmé cringed as she remembered their last meeting. Yoda had told her of Anakin's fiery fate and then left her on Iokko. It had not been an easy week, the feeling in inescapable devastation had followed her everywhere. Even in that moment, she could always feel it lingering on her peripheral emotions.

"Yes, it has been quite some time," she replied gently, her eyes followed the mesmerising movements of the twins. Leia had refused to train at first, but when Anakin had bribed her with the chance to kill Vader for herself, the young princess could not turn the offer down. "May I ask you something," she turned to the old Jedi. 

"Anything at all young one," Yoda replied. Padmé nearly snorted, she did not feel young at all. Though in comparison to Yoda, she was but a mere child.

"We were confronted by Vader on Iokko." Padmé explained, running her fingers over the throat. "I was told that he was the one who hunted all the Jedi and he was the one who enforced the Emperor's will." She continued hesitantly, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. Yoda eyed her pitifully, he already knew the question to come. "When I saw Vader, I felt something I have not felt in over twenty years.” Padmé took in a shaky breath, her hazel eyes pinned him. “Is Vader the father of my children?" She asked, her voice had dropped significantly, but she still cast a quick glance over her team mates. Sure enough, they were all still going about their tasks as they had been before. 

Yoda inhaled sharply, "their father, he is." Padmé's eyes widened in horror. She hadn't wanted to believe it. All these years, all these years and she thought he was dead. All these years she could have gone to him, shown him the error in his ways. She would have dragged him back to the light kicking and screaming. Even if it meant he killed her in the process. Placing a hand over her mouth, she muffled a cry. Her mood change did not go unnoticed by Anakin, he was quick to look over at her, staring from afar. Padmé smiled at him and waved, which was clearly enough peace of mind for him to get back to his work. The ex-senator watched him go. To think he, her Ani, had the ability to hunt and kill thousands of innocent people made her stomach lurch. Vader was not the man she had fallen in love with. No, he was a power-hungry imposter, but even still she knew her Ani was in there somewhere deep down, struggling to reach the light. Padmé would never give up on Vader, not until she rescued Anakin, not until she fixed him.

Composing herself, Padmé finally replied, "You told me he was dead,” she choked out, her vision began to waver and her eyes blossomed with heat. The twins simultaneously peered over at her, and upon receiving a quick smile they continued their sparring. If a little less enthusiastically. Padmé fought to reign in the burning despair before it drew enough attention for Anakin to say something. Lying to him was killing her, but the thought of him finding out his future was much worse.

Yoda pressed his lips together. “In all essence, Anakin Skywalker is dead.” The Jedi replied smoothly. “All that lives now is a body fuelled by anger and hatred.” This set a spark of anger in her chest. After knowing him for so long, she had seen his darkness many times. It made her sick to the stomach when she thought of all the horrible things he had done. That he had chosen to lash out at her on mustafar instead of listening to reason. All the choices he made were his, and stupid ones might she add, but she would have been darned if she let him set another mechanical foot down on such a dark path.

Padmé brushed away a tear as it leaked from her eyes, sniffling a little. In her mind she was set. The first chance she got, she would go and see him. “That’s not true,” she stated, straightening her back. Anakin sent her another wary gaze, but she avoided it and turned her attention only to Yoda. “You know how stubborn Anakin is. My husband is in Vader somewhere, fighting all the time.”

“Your optimism, I wish I had.” The old Jedi tutted, returning his attention to the twins. Padmé bit her tongue, and inhaled deeply. Yoda was a wise man, but when it came to Anakin he had always had a blind spot.


	18. Three Months

Anakin felt himself drifting through the force. The twins' force presences were stronger than ever. The moist, humid air of the forest around them tickled his cheeks. Anakin could hear a nettle scurrying through the leaf-litter, Padmé's soft heart beat as she rested on the ship. Han cursing under his breath as he dropped a bolt on the millennium falcon. He could smell the sweet scent of decaying wood, the rancid stench of the filthy swamp, the oil of the Falcon. "Attempt to invade their minds, please do," Yoda's old voice crackled, nearly drowned out by the noise of the churning, bubbling swamp.

Anakin readied himself. They had been stuck on Degobah for three months, and not once had the twins been able to defended from his attacks both physically and mentally. The Jedi dipped into the force, reaching out towards the twins' presence. They felt so light, so pure. It almost hurt him to have to attack them. Nevertheless he did it, he pressed his own power on top of them, willing them to give way and grant him access to their minds. It it had been a few months earlier the twins would simply have crumbled, but collectively they had learned and strengthened their connection to the force. Good. Anakin purred in his mind, knowing they could hear him. When he was met with silence, Anakin threw everything he had at them, slashing and hacking at their walls. They were strained, he could tell. Their presences quivered in the force. Try as he might, and he did try, he could not break through their defences. 

Slipping away from them, he opened his eyes with a smile plastered on his face. Just like him, the twins were sitting cross legged on the damp forest floor. "Well done," Yoda's voice crackled from behind Anakin. The Jedi Knight stood up and dusted himself, quickly followed by the twins. "Made much progress, you have." The little green alien complemented them from atop his rotting, wooden tree stump. "But still, ready you are not, to face the emperor or Vader," Yoda hummed, sticking his whispered chin out to one side.

"We don't have a choice. The rebellion needs us and the relic," Luke explained. 

Yoda grumbled under his breath, "the choice is yours, but not yet a Jedi, are you," he hummed. Luke nodded his head, Leia stood by his side, silent words lingered on her lips but she dared not say them. A few months earlier and Anakin would have been able to reach out and hear them, but Leia had grown wiser. The twin stalked off to join their mother, the bounce int heir step a little smaller than before.

Anakin pursed his lips. It took a staggering amount of willpower to smother the anger that flickered to life at Yoda's words. Perhaps because it reminded him of himself being denied the position of master. On Degobah Anakin has spent time with the grand master trying to conquer his rage. They made some progress, and in Anakin's books that was better than none. The little alien was definitely different. More broken. More tired. Now Anakin could understand why Yoda was wary to let them go. Yes they had strength in the force, but when it came to being a Jedi, knowledge and experience were just as important. Both of which they had little of.

Anakin sat by the master's side with a weary sigh, "may I ask you something Master Yoda?"

"Anything Skywalker," the green alien hummed.

Anakin watched a tiny bug crawling amongst the leaves, "who is Vader?" He turned his head to the master, who simply stared back at him with blank eyes. "Luke told me Vader used to be a Jedi, before he betrayed the Order. When I return to my time, I want to stop him before he has the chance." Anakin nearly shivered at the memory of the revolting feeling of rage and loathing that rolled off the Sith in waves. The Jedi's stomach churned, to think such an abomination would slip under the Jedi radar.

"Tell you, I cannot," Yoda replied gently, his eyes filled with watery pity. Anakin opened his mouth to object but Yoda silenced him with the twitch of a finger, "discover it in due time, you will." Anakin clamped his mouth shut and pulled his brows together. In that moment he could only speculate who the masked monster was and it only made him more restless knowing he was going to find out. 

"You should come with us," Anakin murmured, "the alliance could really use your help and I don't know anything about the Sith we are facing." Not to mention, it would give the master more time to train his students.

"No," Yoda replied simply. "Other Skywalker, you have. My place, this is."

"Please," Anakin asked, his voice strained, "Vader is strong. Very strong, I fear I might not be able to defeat him alone. I could only wonder what the strength of his master would have," Anakin's mind buzzed. The blank space in his mind where Palpatine's silhouette lay could be filled with far too many assumptions for his liking.

"No," the green Jedi mumbled. "My time is passed."

*

Anakin watched from the window as the tiny green planet vanished into light speed. Clenching his jaw, he pressed his forehead against the cold pane of glass. Yoda may have change in appearance and personality, but he was still the stubborn old coot that the Jedi remembered. Anakin had pleaded with the little green alien to come with them, to help change the fate of this galaxy. It was all in vein. 

The master was determined to stay rooted on the dark planet he now called home. Anakin understood why. When he was with Yoda, every so often a glimmer of regret or quilt would slither through the master's defences showing Anakin the real reason the Jedi master refused to help him. Yoda blamed himself in part for the death of so many of his students. The green alien no longer trusted in himself to defend the galaxy. Anakin's heart drooped. What a weight on his shoulders, to believe that he had been partly responsible for the downfall of the Jedi and rise of the tyrannical Sith. It was a weight Anakin could not imagine carrying.

"When we get back to base, our first priority is capturing Vader," Leia announced as she strode into the room, head held high. Anakin turned and sighed, leaning in the doorway of the cockpit. Padmé caught his eyes and leant forwards in the seat she was perched on. The girl had an unhealthy obsession with that monster. One that he feared could make her careless and cold. Upon invading her mind in their training, he had seen glimpses of what Vader had done to her. Torture was only the tip of the iceberg, and watching her planet being blown apart was rooted deep into the forefront of her mind. What the Sith Lord had done to his daughter made Anakin's blood boil. When they met again, he would make sure the slimey snake would never see the light of day again.

"The general approved then?" Luke asked as he lay back on his seat beside Padmé.

"Yes, and there are some plans being drafted as we speak," the princess told them, dropping down to sit by her brother. Anakin would be lying if he said that statement hadn't struck a chord of anticipation within him, but he knew sith always had back up plans for back up plans.

"We should still proceed with caution. For all we know, turning Vader's suit off for longer than a few minutes could kill him. Then what use would he be?" Anakin snorted. Padmé shuffled backwards in her seat. The senator was nearly always silent when Vader was brought up. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was not telling him something. Something about the sith that made her so reserved on the matter. Padmé protecting his unarmed, fallen body was not out of character, but not participating in his immobilisation was. Although it hurt, he knew she needed privacy and he could only imagine what she had suffered through. Perhaps she had changed a lot more than he could see, but he wasn't going to push her to answer him. Not unless it became a problem.

"Not to mention he isn't completely defenceless when deactivated," Luke added with a sigh. "If he can crumble a temple then he can still kill us." Anakin pursed his lips. Vader was strong in the force no doubt. Perhaps strong enough to rival Anakin himself. This only confused him more. Surely he would know of a Jedi with immeasurable power like Vader's? To completely cull the order, he must have been very talented. That didn't leave many options.

"Until we receive the appropriate sedatives that will subdue him for long enough to be imprisoned, I suggest we only use the mechanical baton when absolutely necessary," Anakin told them, crossing his arms over his chest. Leia's frown deepened, but her pull on the force suggested she understood his reasonings enough not to quarrel. "For now we should recuperate. Who knows how a battle with Vader could effect us."


	19. Cat In The Bag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where I picked up the story and is where my current writing begins. I’d like to say my writing has marginally improved, but honestly that varies from chapter to chapter. Anyway, if you suffered though the first few chapters and made it to here, bravo.

Vader embraced the way air swirled around his face. Being encased in a small white capsule somehow made him feel less claustrophobic than wearing the mask. Vader's helmet rested on a table beside his hard seat. The whirring of machines droned against the metal. It had been months since Vader's endeavour on the forest planet of Iokko. The memory of Anakin Skywalker's face twisted into rage still burned in the back of his mind. The sith knew it was a concoction formed by the light side to taunt him, but it had felt so real. From the shudder of his sabre hilt as his past and present selves' blades connected to that dark pool of nervous anger that he had seen bubbling to the surface in the Jedi. It was all so startlingly accurate. Vader had assumed it that it must have been another, real and living Jedi that the force had plastered an image of Skywalker over. That was the only plausible solution.

In his rage Vader had wounded his son, the destroyer of the death star, Luke Skywalker. Any remorse or guilt Vader might have felt was smothered before he could process it. Pain was exactly what the boy needed. It would make him stronger, forge his character into steel, lure him to the depths of the darkness. It had been far too long for his liking since he had heard anything of Luke. They had disappeared after Iokko, perhaps Vader had injured his son more than he realised. Just as had happened with Padmé. Vader had to crunch down on the violently red memories that sprung to mind. There was a time and a place and it wasn't then.

The ship they had fled in had been in a very poor state, Vader had made sure of that. At first he had believed them to have crash landed on a new planet. After taking damage so severe they would never have been able to avoid a planet’s gravitational pull, never mind jump to light speed. It seemed after scouring all nearby planets however, that they had indeed managed to escape further than Vader thought they could. Perhaps Solo was a better pilot than Vader credited him for. Doubtful.

Then there was the case of the woman in white that had escaped with them. Vader knew she had not been with them when they crashed, so he could only guess why they picked up a stray on the way back. Perhaps another rebel that was already stationed there? Yet, in the brief time he felt her, he had been to preoccupied on his former self to try and place logic on the situation.

A buzzing on his gauntlet caught his attention. Slotting his helmet over his head, Vader flicked his wrist up and a small blue hologram of a man appeared to waver ontop of the sith's black armour. "Commander Fargin, you had better have good news for me," Vader's voice grumbled menacingly.

Fargin dipped his head slightly, "Yes, we finally received word from Skywalker's crew. They are on their way to the rebel alliance now. I can send you coordinates of their flight path."

"It would be in your best interests to do so." Vader replied sternly. "What news do you bring of the Jedi that accompanied them?"

"The command is parading around his name to boost morale through the ranks." The general hummed, his form flickering. "They say he is the hero with no fear, Anakin Skywalker." Vader nearly asked the general to repeat himself. White hot fury burned in his chest. "Those who are old enough to remember him are telling stories of his great feats to cheer up younger rebels." The commander continued, but the sith wasn't listening. How dare they. How dare they use his name to put their soldiers at ease. Whatever Jedi was impersonating him would meet a swift end. Perhaps the temple hadn't being playing tricks on his mind, but instead the Jedi himself. The chamber around him creaked under the pressure of his growing rage. Anakin Skywalker was dead, and for the sake of that Jedi, they should have left it that way.

*

Leia fought against her drooping eyes. The falcon's bedroom was warm like the summer sun of Alderaan. The ship's engines purred below them. Aside from the occasional rocking, it would have been impossible to tell the ship was moving at all. When the princess found the strength to crack her eyes open, the image of herself was staring back with Padmé swaying behind her. The odd tug of her hair reminded Leia not to fall asleep. "Your hair is just like mine," Padmé hummed, folding a piece of hair over another. Leia peeled her eyes open. Their hair colours were indeed very similar. The same dark tone with red hues, although Leia did notice on further inspection that her mother lacked the same blonde flyaways she had. Every time she found one it shocked her into thinking she was greying, only to realise it was blonde. Anakin was to blame for that, she supposed. Leia tilted her head slightly, catching a glimpse of the hundreds of strands tucked away into two thick braids that curved over the back of her head.

"It's coming along nicely," Leia commented. Padmé's eyes flicked up to meet her own. Their cracks of joy spoke of her delight. Those eyes had haunted her dreams for years. The pain and sorrow that had lingered behind her watery gaze was left as an afterimage in her mind. The princess had often dreamed what her mother would be like and why she was so sad. Padmé had brush off any of the worries about who her mother was the moment she had wrapped her in a hug. Somehow, it felt as though she had exactly met what Leia was expecting. Perhaps that had a lot more to do with the force than Leia wanted to admit. "Where did you learn?" She queried.

Padmé drew in a deep breath and continued her methodical folding. "I learned from watching my stylists do it," she admitted, biting her bottom lip as she separated two strands gently with a finger. "When I became a senator, I had to learn to do my own hair because I only had it done for me on official business." Leia nodded, they had traded brief backgrounds. Padmé had become queen at such a young age and Leia could never understand how she had shouldered so much burden so young.

"How did you cope with being queen at such an age?" Leia asked, her gaze not moving from her mother's soft features.

"I wasn’t The youngest queen ever and I certainly wasn't alone," Padmé responded, a fond smile curled her lips. "I had constant help and advisors and people I could turn to." A deep frown burst onto her features, "although some of them just wanted to use me." There is was. Leia caught a glimpse of the betrayal and distress she remembered from the dreams she had about her mother. Though she supposed, somehow, they must have been memories.

"I remember the last time I saw you... before I was given to Bail," Leia hummed, her eyes dropping to her clasped hands as Padmé froze. "I don't know how I remember, but you were so sad. Completely heartbroken. Betrayed." The princess peered up. The ex-senator had closed her eyes shut tightly and took unsteady deep breaths through her nose.

Padmé's face twitched back into a neutral position, but the corners of her lips were still curved downwards. "That was the day you were born." The ex-senator commented calmly, but Leia could feel her hair tug by a trembling hand. "The day the Jedi purges began and... the day I lost Anakin." Her voice cracked on his name and she bit down on her wobbling lip. 

"I'm sorry," Leia told her, dipping her head.

Padmé sniffled, waving her off. "Don't be, it affected you just as much I." Leia would have argued that she could never miss something she never had, but a long forgotten emotion stirred in her stomach. A longing braided with sadness and curiosity. The desperation to know where she came from. To pick out her own traits in her parents. To find out who she really was. It might not have affected the princess the same way it did her mother, but it had still left an imprint on her mind. Leia lifted a hand and placed it over one of Padmé shaking ones. The pair caught eyes through the mirror and for a moment she felt as though she were looking at herself. A tear leaked from Padmé's eye, but she smiled and bent down to plant a gentle kiss on the crown of Leia's forehead. They spent a little while longer in comfortable silence. Padmé's neat folding routine came back as she systematically continued her work. The princesses mind was set alight with information. Knowing what her mother had suffered through during her birth was one thing, but understanding it was another.

The pair sat together in peace until the ship rocked violently to one side. The women caught each other's eyes and raced towards the cockpit. The rest of the team had congregated there with Anakin and Han whizzing about the controls. Chewie was leaning in the doorway, groaning, with Luke peering around him. "What was that?" Leia demanded, using a wrap to tie off the end of the up do Padmé had been working on.

"It's the empire, they've found us," Han grunted, his hands flicking over controls. "They've knocked out the hyperdrive." Through the front viewport Leia could make out the underbelly of a huge starship. The energy drained from her body. That was just what they needed, another run in with the empire. The rebels needed that relic and she would be darned if she let Vader get his mechanical hands on it. Speaking of, she could feel a black spot in the force not to far from them. Its tar-like presence leaked into everything around it. Even if she hadn't known who it belonged to, she would have deemed it a disease. Vader was zooming around them, no doubt in his shuttle, firing bolts at their shields.

"The hyperdrive? How could they have known where we were?" Luke asked, his brows puckered.

"It appears you have a spy in your midst," Anakin answered, jerking the controls and pushing the ship into a spin. Leia staggered to grip into the side of the falcon. This drew out a startled cry from 3po.

"Our location was classified information. The rat must be highly ranked," Leia hissed through gritted teeth as the dark presence swooped close by. The ship rocked again, making her grip tighter onto the falcon. The thought of her most trusted allies betraying her made her sick to her stomach, but it was a thought she would have to dwell on later. The ship rocked again, this time triggering flashing red lights in the cockpit. Han cursed beneath his breath and lines of concentration formed on Anakin's forehead. Spaceships zoomed past the viewport. "If we can't jump, what do we do?" She asked, eyes wide as several TIE fighters dove below them.

Anakin turned to look at her, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I have a plan," he answered, turning his attention back to the control panel. "There is a planet close by that is trapped in an eternal electrical storm. The imperial ships won't be able to land without being completely destroyed. A smaller vessel like us could survive a crash landing." Leia sucked in a breath through her teeth. That sounded like a gamble. Was it worth risking the artefact? It didn't take her long to forfeit her concerns. They were cornered with ships completely surrounding them. There was no other option.

"Can't the imperials send smaller ships after us anyway?" Luke asked, his body rocked as the ship jolted.

"Of course they can," Anakin replied, jerking the controls down. A large grey and green planet appeared in the viewport. Over its clumps of clouded skies lightning cracked and thundered, webbing its spidery finger's across the dusky surface. The cracks in between showed vibrant green and smudges of blue. They were headed straight for it. "But they will crash land just like us. They won't be able to send a report to their superiors either or request for backup. Once we are on that planet, there will be no communication to the rest of the universe.” Leia couldn't help but be startled by the rapidly increasing size of the planet. Another bolt rocked the ship.

It didn't take them long to enter the atmosphere. The whole ship shuddered. The lights lining the control panel went dark and the hum of the engine fell silent. Leia's heart leapt into her mouth. Both pilots were completely still. The only noise was the roaring of the ship tearing through the planet's upper atmosphere. Their plummet reached terminal velocity, the world in front of them was streaked orange as long tendrils of flames clung to the sides of the craft. Han hissed through his teeth. Finally the lights flickered back on and the engines boomed back into power. With a few quick movements from the pilots, the spacecraft began to loose speed slowly. The falcon burst through one layer of cloud only to be confronted by another. Somehow Anakin and Han managed to dive through a gap in the storm clouds, making a direct path towards a large rocky cliff that protruded from a landscape of trees and greenery. The ship rattled around them, making Leia grab onto Chewie. The Wookie was too busy clutching the cockpit archway to notice. 

"We're all going to die," Threepio wailed, flailing his arms.

Despite their rough decent, the ship came to a stop at the base of the cliff without taking out too many trees. They all lurched forwards with Han being thrown against the controls when the ship finally touched down, kicking up rock and dirt against the viewport. Leia let a rush of air escape her lips as she felt the tension seeping away from her shoulders. Han pushed himself upright and Anakin slouched down into his seat. "Another happy landing," Anakin chuckled quietly, a lopsided smile possessed his features.

"What's the damage R2?" Han asked, peering down at the blue droid. The astromech sent out a small small arm that connected to a port in the wall before warbling his response. Anakin translated for Han, using technical jargon Leia had heard but had never learned. Machine parts wasn't a part of her princess training, no matter how much she might have wished it was. Han groaned, placing his hands in his head. "That'll take a few days to fix."

"Well then," Anakin sent him a jovial smile. "We'd better get to it." Han drew him a dirty look in response, earning him a sharp bark of laughter from the Jedi.

A loud boom made Leia jolt. The smiles that had been on their faces was soon wiped clean. Anakin caught Luke's eyes, before jumping to his feet and running to the exit. Soon enough Leia found herself following him out onto the lush green grasses of the fields that pooled at the bottom of the cliff. Several more loud booms pulsed through the air around them. It didn't take long to pinpoint the source of the sound. The sapphire sky was raining blazing balls of metal. The atmosphere screamed as ships hurtled towards the surface. In the one closest, Leia could feel that dark, malevolent presence. "Vader," She hissed through her teeth. Vader's shuttle went soaring over the cliff, but no loud band followed.

"If we stay here, Vader will find us." Anakin's voice was low, his top lip curled upwards. 

"We can't leave the ship, it might be our only way off this overgrown weed ball," Luke declared. Leia's gut sank because she knew her brother was right. From above there had been no indication of advanced technology. If they wanted to escape that planet, they would need the falcon. C3PO waddled out of the ship muttering complaints with R2 rolling by his side. Padmé was lingering to the back of their little cluster, her arms crossed over her chest and eyes fogged over. Han on the other hand had a hand on his hip, running his thumb over the barrel of his blaster.

"Then we do both," Anakin told them, clenching his jaw. "Han, Chewie, your force presences are weak enough in the force to go undetected by Vader unless he gets close enough. You two should stay with the droids, we will go into the forest and lead them away for a few days." 

"Now hold on here," Han held out a hand. "I’m no Jedi, but don't you think Vader will notice the large shiny metal thing out wide in the open?" Anakin turned to the ship and closed his eyes. The falcon groaned and a vein popped out the side of his neck, but the ship slowly began to lift from the grass. It hovered in the air a few moments then slid towards the cliffside, slipping it beneath a gaping crack at the bottom of the rocky formations. There the ship was set back down in the shade.

"Show off," Han grunted, rolling his eyes. "Fine, just come back alive, I don't want to have to deal with Vader." The smuggler's eyes rested on Leia for a moment. Pulling a small circular object from his belt he flicked it to Anakin. "That's a tracker for the beacon on the falcon. You can use it to find your way back." The Jedi stared between the two, before nodding his head.

Anakin turned to his wife, opening his mouth to speak. "I'm coming," she beat him to the punch, cocking a hip to the side and narrowing her eyes at him.

The Jedi pursed his lips, "It'll be dangerous." He stated. Padmé raised her eyebrows and brushed a hand over the sleek silver blaster hanging from her hip. Anakin let out a chuckle, "guess I can't argue with a lady."


	20. Jumanji

If there was one thing Anakin had really hated about Tatooine, aside from its inhabitants and sandy dunes, it was the heat. The unrelenting heat. Even though he would never truly miss it, during the humid and scorching weather he was experiencing he would rather the twin suns of his birth planet. Trees as tall as battle ships were towering over their heads. Their trunks were as wide as an x-wing and their branches curled around one and other, stretching towards the sky. Luckily, the forest's canopy provided them with shade but the tree trunks halted the cooing breeze that could have brushed over them. Thick underbrush and wild bushes had claimed the large gaps between the trees, forcing the quartet to clamber over plant infested ground. As far as he could see, there was no end to the forest. 

The four of them walked spread out. It had been a few hours since they had begun their trek and not one of them had uttered a word. They were all too busy stewing in their own misery. Anakin felt the sticky heat clinging to his body. Sweat was drenching them all, making their skin glisten when they caught the occasional ray of sun. Padmé had removed her outer cloak and was holding it in a bundle close to her chest. Both twins had removed their outer fight jackets and secured them around their waists. Anakin brushed a few damp locks off of his forehead and quickened his pace to catch up with Leia, who had pulled ahead. Both Luke and Padmé were a little further back, out of earshot. "So, you and Han?" Anakin hummed to her, flashing a smirk.

Leia's head whipped around to face him, her features twisted into abstract horror. Anakin felt his smile widen a little. "No, me and that... nerfherder! Not a chance," She tutted, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. Although her hair had been pulled back into an up do that followed the curve of her head, a few strands of hair had fallen forwards in front of her eyes. The hairstyle was definitely Padmé's work because he had seen her wear such a look before. The fly aways were no doubt because of him and his reckless flying. Somehow it brought him pride to have contributed to her hairstyle.

"Really?" Anakin gave a half hearted shrug. Leia's brows furrowed, her eyes narrowing to slits. "He seems like a decent guy to me... definitely not a nerfherder." The thought of his daughter having a relationship was not a particularly pleasant one in his mind, but he couldn't help taunting her. It felt like waving an arm in front of a Rancor. 

"Well..." Leia hummed, turning her head from him in order to focus on clambering over a nest of thorns. "Perhaps I was a little harsh." She tutted, refusing to look him in the eyes. "I am a commander of the resistance, I don't have time for such frivolous things." The princess flicked her hand as though she could wave the very sentiment away.

Anakin cast his eyes back to Padmé, who had begun speaking to Luke in hushed tones. They caught his gaze and began laughing. Leia whipped her head around, rolled her eyes and continued her expedition. The Jedi thought of his own hectic lifestyle, balancing his secret life with his wife and his duties to the Jedi council. "Padmé and I maintained a marriage whilst I was fighting as a commander in the clone wars and she senator acting for the republic." Leia's dark eyes focused on his face. "All whilst keeping it a secret."

"Well that wonderful for you, but Han and eye don't see eye to eye on the best of times. We could never last longer than a few hours in each other presence." Leia replied, her tone as stern as ever. That must have been something she had picked up from the Organas. 

"You shouldn't be so pessimistic Leia," Anakin tutted, "you managed three months together on Degobah." As the words left his mouth, he realised how weak they sounded. There were many occasions he could remember very vocal fights erupting between the pair and fairly frequently. Perhaps that was the reason he hadn't detected their mutual pining beforehand. 

Leia rolled her eyes again, "if I marry a man, I want to be able to spend more than three months with him." She told him, her tone softening. "It would never work." The playful smile dropped from Anakin's face. That sentence had been repeated in his mind like a mantra during his padawan years. It did very little to stop Padmé and him from getting married. It seemed his own daughter was facing the same challenges, and where was he to help her? Dead. The Jedi gritted his teeth, he could not allow himself to die. Vader would meet the hot end of his sabre before he had the chance to betray anyone.

"I used to say that to myself all the time." Anakin reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder. "I used to believe that if it was meant to be the force would find a way." The Jedi pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head. "Until I realised that tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so we should live while we can."

*

Vader's cape bellowed out behind him. A large expanse of trees was stretched out below him as he peered off the top of the cliff. The forest bloomed as far as his eyes could see and the force told him it reached much further. The sweltering sun beat down on him with no mercy. The suit's temperature would not be bearable for long. Dark grey storm clouds cast black shadows over the forest. Thunder rumbled in the distance. There were many sentient creatures scurrying over the planets surface. For their sake, they had better not get in his way. The sith had fixated on the three brilliant force presences that pulsed with the light side. It burned him to focus on them too closely. 

Since he had first sensed them when he landed, they had begun concealing their presences. The last he had felt, they were delving into the deeper layers of the jungle. Behind him was a small group of stormtroopers, more than fifteen but no greater than twenty. They clutched their guns close to their chests, standing in rows awaiting his orders. Far behind them large plumes of smoke bellowed up into the sky. Of course none of them had been able to properly land their ships without crashing, it was a feat beyond their training. The lack of ships meant that none of them were leaving this planet and they knew it. To defy Vader however, would be a much worse fate than being left on an overgrown weedball. "Split up into pairs and comb the forest." Vader's voice boomed across the cliff face. "I want them alive."


	21. Ambushin

Padmé could feel course bark digging into her back. The rich sunlight no longer seeped through cracks in the canopy. Instead an inky red tainted what slivers of light they could see. Only the dark silhouettes of trees could be made out surrounding them. Although the forest hadn't been quite during daytime, it was a racket by nightfall. Small creatures chirped and wailed in the night. The thousands of tiny choruses joined together to form one big song. It was rather peaceful to have the forest sing them a lullaby as they drifted off to sleep. The humid heat was much tolerable under the cover of darkness. It cradled them close with a welcome embrace.

Trying not to think of the large drop below them, Padmé lay stick straight. The branch of the tree they were lying in was thick enough that she would have to stand up and move to fall off, but that did very little to ease her discomfort. With three force sensitives lying close to her, she knew that she didn't really have anything to worry about. They were all side by side, perpendicular to the direction the branch was growing in. Anakin was the furthest away, with Luke the closest. It brought her a strange sense of calm, even if that calm felt like a piece was missing.

The whooshing of their breath reminded her suddenly of the sharp hiss of Vader's respirator. That noise haunted her. Every night she heard it in her dreams. Chest tightening, water sprung to her eyes and she grew very grateful that her family would simply see her face as a shadow. Although with them all being force sensitive, she knew they would feel her sporadic emotions. 

It caught the attention of one of them, at least. "Are you alright?" Anakin murmured. A gentle whisper compared to the boom of Vader's mechanical voice. This only drove her emotions into further upset. The moment she learned where Vader was on this kriffing planet, she would go to him. The torment may never end, but at least she could put the constant questions to peace. The questions that had plagued since mustafar. Namely, how could he have done it? Why was he still doing it? Slapping the thoughts from her mind, she focused on the present. At the current moment she needed to focus on past Anakin. Yoda had warned her against telling him. That he wasn't ready to know yet. Padmé would oblige him until she had spoken to Vader herself because she needed to know the extent he had fallen down the sith rabbit hole.

"How are we going to get off this planet if it's surrounded by an electrical storm and imperial cruisers?" Padmé whispered back. It pained her to deceive him, but it was necessary. If she outright lied, he would know. From his hesitant pause, it seemed like he knew she was hiding something anyway. Once more her chest tightened. Anakin had the force, of course he knew she was hiding something.

"I'll travel to the opposite side of the planet and build up enough speed to propel us through the storm and out of the planet's atmosphere. Our shields should protect us long enough for the ship to jump into hyperspace." Anakin told her, his voice bland and empty. Padmé felt guilt stir within her. 

"Another reckless plan. Brilliant," Leia hummed from between them. The edge to her voice brought a spark of amusement to Padmé's darkened mindset. Not many people were brave enough to speak to Anakin is such a way during the clone wars. If he gave her one thing, it was definitely his temperament. With a pang of anguish she realised that Vader had no doubt slaughtered anyone that defied him in the past and present. 

"You got a better one?" Anakin grumbled back. Padmé heard him shift, the rough bark scraped against his robes.

"The force won't fail us," Luke's voice spoke up groggily, inhaling deeply.

"The force can't fail people." Anakin hummed, his voice softening. "People can only fail the force." This got a grunt of acknowledgement from the twins, causing Padmé to chuckle. Hearing them speak about the force felt like listening to a foreign language, but she recognised a stubborn teacher when she saw one. 

Once again, they lapsed into silence. Although the ache in Padmé's chest was no smaller, it had become slightly more bearable.

When they awoke the next morning, it was to the sound of a static communications device. Padmé jolted awake, pulling herself to a seated position. Anakin was already crouched on the edge of the branch peering down below. Intense rays of sunlight filtered in from the canopy above. Padmé shifted out of one's burning touch. Luke and Leia roused slowly with her, all of them crouching down by the Jedi's side. Anakin paid them no heed, he was focused completely on the two white troopers below them. Their armour screamed out like a beacon amidst the green undergrowth below. The forest around them was eerily silent.

"Why is Vader so determined to find these rebels?" One of the troopers prattled as they neared. "If I were him I would'a just blown this bloody continent off the face of the planet from above."

"That's cause you lack vision," the other trooper chastised him. "Vader wants them alive so he can interrogate them, find out what they know about the rebel alliance." The first trooper let out a groan, before being punched in the shoulder by the second one. "We aren't here to question his orders. We are here to carry them out," he added finally, readjusting the grip on his blaster. Padmé sucked in air through her teeth. If it did come to interrogation, she wasn't sure she could barter her identity for their release. As her gut twisted she realised he might not even care.

The troopers were nearing, almost directly below them. "Really?" The first trooper retorted. "We all know Vader is just but-hurt over the Death Star. It embarrassed him in front of the emperor. It is the pilot that destroyed the death star we are searching for. That pilot is always slinking around the ship she chased down here. The Corrilian one. The way I hear it, Vader wants to bring him a slow and painful death." The second trooper shook his head with a tut. Anakin lurched forwards slightly, his hand hovering over his sabre. Catching a stern look from Padmé, he let it drop back to his side. "And anyway, didn't Vader already have a crack at that Princess Leia?" This made the princess rock slightly, her head cocking up. "Rumour amongst the troops has it that Vader threw everything he had at her but she didn't say a word." Padmé's stomach dropped. From the paling of her daughter's face, she knew the troopers weren't lying. If Vader would do such a despicable thing to his own daughter, what made her think she would be treated any differently? Shooing the thought from her mind, she had to believe he didn't know who Leia and Luke were. If he did know, then he was truly lost. Going to him would be a great gamble with an even greater cost but, for the Ani she knew, she had to try. 

"The princess is very headstrong," The second trooper agreed. "Although, she's not a princess anymore." Leia reeled backwards, her face twisted into a terrible scowl. The harsh movement caused a chunk of bark to splinter from the trunk with a loud crack, falling to the floor below. By the time the splinter landed, they were under fire. Padmé ducked down, but Anakin leapt off the tree, slicing a troopers head off as he made an attempt to use his comm and impaling the other. Although a sigh of relief escaped her lips, she was not happy. Those men had simply been doing their jobs.

As the trio left behind on the branch rose to their feet, Anakin was swivelling around with his sabre still ignited. "We need to move, something doesn't feel right!" He shouted up. The twins shared a looked, before following their mother on a precarious descent.

*

Vader could feel his cloak occasionally snag on the undergrowth as he powered through it. Even if the creatures that inhabited the planet were brave enough to make noise in his presence, he wouldn't have heard it over the rasp of his breath. The Jedi, Luke and Leia had hidden their presence from him. All Vader could do was tear the forest apart until his son revealed himself. The thousands of sentient beings were scurrying all over the place, avoiding him at all costs. This was surprising considering their apparent lack of intelligence. Storming through a blinding ray of morning sun, he continued through the depths of the jungle. 

Vader halted at the base of a large tree, pressing down on a button on his gauntlet. The holo of a white trooper standing to attention flickered on his wrist. "Lord Vader," the trooper saluted. 

"Have any of the troopers made contact?" Vader commanded. Despite already knowing the answer, he knew that slacking off on his check-ups would leave room for sloppiness. The key to a obedient soldier is proper discipline. 

"No, my Lord. None of us have found the rebels yet." The trooper replied, keeping pin straight. Vader clenched his hand into a fist, his anger flared out around him, causing his cape to flutter and flick.

"Then I suggest for your sake that you find them soon." Vader informed him venomously, the nearby trunk of a tree began to whine and crack.

"Of course, my Lord," the trooper replied with a bow, his holo vanishing into thin air. Vader continued his trek. If only he was able to contact that star destroyer lingering outside orbit, he would have the whole fleet scouring the forest. Instead he was left with what few troopers had been brave enough to follow his command to descend to the planet surface. Once again his anger flared out. There were many ways he had pictured killing that intruding Jedi. Many of them he had also pictured doing to Anakin Skywalker himself. Molten magma had been a reoccurring concept.

Off in the distance, in the depths of the jungle, two life forms were smothered from existence. Around those sentients there was another presence, one hauntingly familiar yet so different. The presence felt warm and gentle but cleaved completely in two. This soul was tormented and miserable. Vader recognised it as the hooded figure that escaped with Luke, but something else about it struck a chord of anguish within him. One he couldn't silence. The two sentients that had met their end were not just sentients, but troopers. Vader had been keeping track of them and if two of them perished so quickly, he could only assume it was the Jedi. Raising his gauntlet he dialled on the keypad. "All troopers report to sector 242." Vader commanded, ending the signal and dropping his hand to his side. Before the end of the day, he would see Luke.


	22. Naboo

Luke couldn't help but peer around at the huge trees as they continued their trek. No matter where he looked, green was the predominant colour. Everything was covered in life. From creeping vines to delicate flowers, there were thousands of colourful plants that he didn't know existed. Anakin and Leia were a little ways ahead. The former of the two was rigid, his head craning round to scan every nook and cranny of the jungle. Leia on the other hand had her head down. The two masterful braids curling around her skull had begun to sprout loose hairs. Padmé was walking not too far from Luke, her white cloak huddled to her chest. Something about her soft features was so strikingly similar to Leia. Perhaps it was because they shared the same deep, understanding brown eyes. The kind he unwittingly, instantly trusted. Padmé's gaze flicked over, her eyes catching his. "You alright?" She asked gently, tilting her head to one side. For someone who wasn't force sensitive, she had an uncanny knack of being able to know exactly what they were all thinking. Though he supposed that might be a mother's intuition.

Luke nodded his head and sent an open palmed gesture to the scenery around him. "I've just never seen so many trees." He admitted. Images of Tatooine's dry and barren landscape sprung to mind. On that dessert planet it was quite the treat to see a dead tree, never mind a living one.

Padmé sent him a gentle smile. "It reminds me a lot of my home planet Naboo." A wistful longing echoed through her presence in the force. Luke had never been attached to Tatooine in a positive way. The only thing that could draw him back was the prospect of seeing his aunt and uncle, but that was no longer an option. Leia cocked her head around to send him an encouraging smile.

"I've heard of Naboo, it's the emperor's home world. Though I can't say I know much about it." Luke replied honestly with a sigh. Leia had mentioned it at some point, but it was more likely because the planet was a hotspot for imperial activity.

"Its a very beautiful place." Padmé hummed, a smile curling her lips. "Large lakes that sparkle under the sun, plant life everywhere, a bustling capital. Not to mention the humid jungles and swamps that hold huge underwater cities." This surprised Luke. Having had not much experience with water, he was shocked there could be enough of it to encompass an entire city. The thought seemed rather absurd, but Padmé's calm confidence told him she spoke nothing but the truth. "It's where your father and I got married." Luke felt warmth brush over his heart. Casting a glance at his father, he watched the Jedi carefully surveying his surroundings.

"It sounds beautiful. Perhaps one day we could visit it together?" Luke asked. It was easy to realise she must miss her home planet after being trapped on Iokko in complete solitude.

Padmé's entire complexion lit up. A warm delight twinkled in her eyes. "I would like that."

*

The rest of the sweltering day was spent mostly in silence. They were all too warm and tired to make proper conversation. Not to mention their silence was key in being undetected by troopers. After hours of trudging through lush greenery and trickling streams, the sun finally began to set. This cooled the air to a bearable temperature. Once again amiable chatter picked up as they set down camp by a thundering river. The trees hung like limp silhouettes, the birds twittered and a night breeze caressed their clothes and faces. All four of them settled down, but Padmé remained completely awake as she had the night before and every night since Mustafar. 

Rounded pebbles jutted out of the ground into her back, cooling her still boiling body temperature. There was nothing to do but watch the vibrant orange and red be leeched from the sky, only for an a white speckled inky colour to be spilled across it. The churning of the river as it lapped against its rocky shores soothed the dark black pain in her chest to a greyed smudge. No matter what she did, her thoughts drifted back to him. Vader, her Anakin. It did occur to her frequently that he was no longer the man she had once fallen in love with but that couldn't stop him from consuming her attention completely. As a pair of glowing moons drew high into sky, her heart ache reached its peak. Sitting up, she glanced around at her sleeping family members. Their faces were completely neutral, gentle and soft. Padmé stifled a giggle as she noticed both Luke and Anakin were splayed out in the exact same position. The only difference being the slight grimace etched into Anakin's features. 

Sucking in a a deep breath, she carefully rose to her feet. There was no helping the bewilderment she felt as she stared at the gaping black gaps between the monstrous trees. Which direction would he be in? What if she ran into a trooper first? What if something killed her before she could reach him? Padmé's heart went into overdrive. Part of her wanted to lie back down with her children and husband from the past, but she couldn't. Not with her Anakin out there somewhere. A plan began to form in her mind. If she found a trooper she could probably use her politician's charm to make them take her to Vader. They had evaded a pair of troopers not long before the sun set. As far as she could tell, the troopers were human too. They would have had to make camp somewhere in that direction. With a brittle sigh, she dove back into the tree line they had emerged from. The violent thrashing of the river cloaked her steps. 

The darkness of the forest enveloped her. It took a while of fumbling carelessly before her eyes finally adjusted. The creatures of the forest droned and chirped a medley around her. The sound of the river slowly faded away until it was nothing but a feint whisper of a memory. The dim lighting made it impossible for her to see the object obscured amongst the leaf little below her. Padmé only realised it was there when caught her foot on it, making her stagger forwards. Steadying herself, she bent down and cautiously felt the ground around her. Something cold and hard was sticking out of it. It felt like a thick pin that was looped into a circle at the top. Padmé's chest constricted, it was the pin used for hoisting up leather covers and tent dressings. Much to her dismay, nothing was attached. Standing up, she squinted into the darkness and made out nothing but the dark silhouettes of trees. 

Suddenly a beam of light glinted off something metal, catching her eye. Padmé turned on heel to see a dark figure with his arms securely crossed over his chest and a metal object hanging from his hips. The odd wisp of his hair caught a highlight from the moons. "What are you doing Padmé?" Anakin's voice was soft like the glassy surface of a river, but she knew the raging current that boiled beneath.

"I... uhmmm..." Padmé couldn't find words as she stared at him warily. Slapping herself in the face would do her no good, but she did want to. Of course he would have noticed when she left, he always did. It was foolish to think she could have slipped out from under a jedi's nose. 

"It looks a lot to me like you're going to tell the enemy our location." Anakin's voice became harsher, adopting a soft waver. Padmé's blood ran cold. Not if Vader threatened to behead her would she do such a thing. It hurt a little he could suggest such a thing, but she had to remind herself that this Anakin didn't know her and didn't understand what he was going to become.

"What?" She squeaked, her eyes drawing wide. "No, I-"

"Vader started being able to track us down the moment we met you." He stated taking a step forwards, arms falling uncrossed. Padmé wanted to run to him, hug himself close and spill everything. Holding her tongue felt a lot more like biting it off.

"I am not an imperial spy Anakin," she spelled it out sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

Anakin took another step closer. They were at arms length. "The Padmé I knew would never have been an imperial spy." He snapped, leaning in closer. "But you are different. You've changed. I don't recognise you anymore!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "Lying straight to my face, and now this!"

"People change Anakin!" She shouted back, anger brimming in her eyes. "They change when they are trying to save someone they love. They change when they watch hundreds die. They change when they are back into a corner!" Anakin stepped backwards and peered at her like a wounded animal. Sucking in a deep breath, she unhooked the claws of anger that were digging into her chest. "I saw everything I stood for crumble Anakin." Padmé whispered gently. "I saw you fall and spent nineteen years in isolation thinking about it." Wrapping her arms around her chest, she let out a withering sigh. "So yes, I've changed, but I've never lied to you because I want to." A warm breeze blew past her face. A dollop of water splashed onto her face as thunder cracked overhead.

Anakin clenched his jaw. Rigidity seeped from his stature. "I'm sorry," he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I shouldn't have blamed you. If you were selling us out they would have found us on Dagobah." The admittance brought a small smile to her features. "Why are you all the way out here?"

Padmé sucked in a deep breath. "I was going to find Vader," she explained, her voice small. There was no sense in lying now. "I was going to bargain for our escape," she told him. The truth in her statement must have rang out because Anakin gave her a small nod and ran a hand emphatically through his hair. More wet droplets thudded the tip of her head.

The Jedi went completely still, his eyes growing wide and hands dropping to his side. "That's it." He murmured, his eyes landing on her. "That's what's been causing something to feel off." Anakin's head whipped back the way they had come from.

"What is it?" Padmé cocked her head. It was no secret he had been on edge all day, even the twins were slightly spooked. Naturally she assumed it was something to do with the force and that could never mean anything good.

"I can't feel Vader anymore," Anakin admitted, sending her a terrified stare before taking off towards the twins. Padmé waisted no time on thought and went charging after him. Even if he was faster, she kept him within her sight. Trees, bushes and all kinds on plant life went whipping past her face and slashing at her ankles. The rain came slashing down. No matter how hard she pushed herself, it didn't seem as thought she could go fast enough. The exhausted pain that gripped her body was hardly worth a moments thought. Leaves pelted her face as she burst out onto the open riverbank. Anakin was already shaking their children awake, crouching by their sides. "Luke, Leia!" He shouted.

The pair startled awake, prying their eyes open. "Huh? What?" Luke yelped, pushing himself into a seated position. Leia was quick to follow his lead. Anakin fell back onto his haunches and let out a shaky breath. Padmé ran a hand over the soaking top of her hair. A wave of relief washed over her, soothing her frayed nerves. Taking in ragged breaths, she leaned forwards and placed her hands on her knees. The clothes she worse stuck closely to her skin.

"What's going on?" Leia asked, rubbing her eyes.

Anakin opened his mouth to respond, but another beat him to it. "It was best you woke them. So they would be aware of their demise." A deep mechanical voice boomed over the sound of the river. Padmé's head snapped up. On the opposite bank, a red lightsaber slowly engaged, casting a crimson hue on the armour clad giant that wielded it. From the odd red highlight, she counted at least fifteen troopers. A sinking feeling tugged at her gut and every inch of her fell still. Goosebumps raced over her skin. In the darkness, his inscrutable mask was even less expressive. Instinctively she threw the hood of her cloak over her head. Terror made her body tremble. The rain was relentless. Lightning webbed across the sky, followed by a deafening boom.

Anakin wasted no time. Jumping straight into battle and igniting his own blue blade, he gave the sith no time to recognise her. The two Anakin's locked blades. Flashes of purple followed every connection. The troopers began to fire. Padmé sucked behind a tree, dragging Leia with her. Luke drew his blue sabre, deflected blaster bolts and charged straight for the troopers. Padmé and Leia drew their blasters and shot opportunistically from behind the huge trunks. It didn't take long for them to nearly completely cull the troopers. Between Luke slicing through them and Leia's sharp shooting, they didn't stand a chance. Vader and Anakin danced across the battle field, blades locking repeatedly. The very water sizzled around them. Vader was there. All she needed to do was call out to the pair to stop their fighting and yet every time she thought of facing the sith's wrath, her blood ran cold. 

A strange whooping from behind her made Padmé cock her head backwards. A thick, creamy fog was crawling along the floor. It curled around her ankles and poured out across the riverbank. A sharp, tart smell tickled her nose and before she knew it the world around her was blurring. All her limbs grew heavy, falling completely limp. Staggering forwards, she fell face first on the pebbles. There were several thuds around her. With her vision slowly loosing definition, all she could make out were colours and shapes. Everyone was horizontal except from a large black blur with a red beam attached. Small brown shapes filtered into her vision and were cut in half by the scarlet blade. That was the last she saw before her world grew dark.


	23. In Prisoned

Even when Anakin was simply gathering strands of consciousness, he could tell something was wrong. Peeling his eyes open, he pushed himself up to be seated, immediately noting the chunky rope that bound his wrists. The room he found himself was small and circular, with an arching door and a beaded curtain. The curtain let small streams of light through to illuminated their almost completely wooden surroundings. The many dark stained rings that slotted into one another acted as a patterning for the floor, but it told him where they were. They were inside a chunk of a hollowed tree. There were a few small benches dotted around the room that appeared to have been carved from the wall itself. Metal bars completely cage him in, aside from the curving back wall that was made of pale wood. On the wall opposite there was another identical cage with Luke and Padmé in it. Luke was sprawled across the floor, but his mother was using some sort of tool to diligently tear away at the thick ropes binding her wrists. 

Anakin turned back, startled to find Leia curled in on herself on the floor behind him. The Jedi could feel her dormant peace twirling happily in the force. Letting out a soft groan, he ran his hands down his face. Padmé halted her cutting to peer up at him. "Are you okay?" She asked, her brown eyes scanning him.

"I'm fine," Anakin huffed, stretching his arms out in-front of him. With a nod, she returned to using the small silvery object and grating away at the ropes. The thick material was fraying. "How long have you been awake?" He murmured, blinking hard to adjust his vision.

"Not long. Ten minutes maybe?" Padmé hummed. There was a loud rip and the sharp object she was holding plunged deeper into the rope. Upon looking closer, Anakin realised the object she was using was a long, silvery knife. The kind the handmaidens of Naboo royalty kept stowed on their socks. It had the same reflective and metallic surface her Nabian ship did. "A local came in with your sabres clipped to his clothing." She informed him, eyes still focused on the rope. "He left through the door not long before you woke up."

Anakin reached out, sending hundreds of lifeforms buzzing around them. "We are in some sort of settlement." Anakin commented, his eyes flicking to the door. "We are on the outskirts, which should make escape easier." Then he began to probe deeper, towards individuals. "There is someone standing guard by the door and I have a feeling we are very high up in the air." There were hazy lifeforms that scurried around quite a ways below him.

"I'm fairly certain I've escaped worse, and I know you have." Padmé chuffed, hastening her cutting. Anakin felt a smile blossom on his face. That was true, he had certainly come closer to death and escaped with only his life.

*

It had been a pleasant surprise when everyone had dropped to the floor, leaving Vader the last man standing on the battlefield. It had been a lot less pleasant when hundreds of small, grapefruit eyed, flag eared, fluffy athropomorphs had charged onto the battle field screeching, flinging rocks and make shift weapons. Of course it had only taken Vader a matter of minutes to completely dispatch of them, but it was a few minutes too long. In the time he was cutting through their troops the cretans had lugged Luke, Leia, the Jedi and the hooded figure off into the forest. All his troopers had met their end. Either by sabre or native.

Standing at the banks of the river, he had let out a roar of fury. The trees had trembled around him, the bark cracking and creaking under the pressure of his will. The water had boiled around his feet. The rage he felt when Luke was snatched away from him once again left a harsh, red imprint on his mind. The kind that didn't fade. It only took torturing a few of the small humanoid mammals to realise they had no way to converse. In frustration he'd killed another few. 

As the sun began to peak through the canopy, Vader saw one of the natives leaping through the trees. The force whispered to him that it was homeward bound. Locking onto its presence, he swiftly tailed it. The sith kept far enough back that the creature could not see or hear him, but close enough that the force presence wouldn't become blurred. As he walked, batting away large leaves and twigs, he had time to reflect on the battle field. Luke had been magnificent. The way he struck down those clone troopers was a lot more like a Jedi than the childish impersonation he had done when they met on Cymoon-one. It enraged him when he realised the Jedi had trained him. No doubt the Anakin-imposter had been filling his mind with ridiculous notions about the light side of the force. It would be more difficult to make Luke turn, but perhaps Vader could exploit the faults in the Jedi code. 

Vader would be lying if he said the familiarity of the Jedi hadn't rattled him. It was good thing he was a sith and lying was second nature to him. Even lying to himself. There was no way the Jedi was the real Anakin Skywalker, he knew that much. Keeping himself dressed like the clone wars hero was one thing, but the perfect similarity to his face was another. Vader had been able to pick out the smallest details he had forgotten even existed. Like the odd freckles splattered across his face. The pale, tight skin he resided within had been scorched of any defining features. If the Jedi had been using a mind trick to deceive him as he had previously believed, Vader would have sensed it and the physical accuracy wouldn't have been so sharp.

The Jedi could always be a clone, but it was nearly impossible to make a perfect copy of a force wielder that retains their force abilities. Of course it was possible and if any was to be cloned, it would have been him. No doubt by the emperor to corrupt him a second time. Or perhaps even just to torture Vader with possibility.

Vader was pulled from his musings when the marsupial creature stopped moving. In front of him he could sense hundreds of life forms bounding about. Luke was still hiding his force presence from him. The sith huffed, he supposed he would have to find him the hard way. Delving deeper into the trees, he found a rocking wooden ramp that led up to a city of tree houses and hollowed trunks. Large wooden bridges that swayed in the wind were connecting the trees hundreds of meters in the air. It made the top of the forest look like a spider web from so far away. The creatures leapt over shaky wooden bridges with ease. Smaller versions of the natives he had fought were chasing each other around, grabbing at their tails. Igniting his sabre, he stepped up onto the wooden ramp.


	24. Conflict

Padmé did her best to conceal a squeal of delight when the ropes of her wrist were finally cut in two. Luke and Leia had since woken up and were trying in vein to use the force to snap their bonds. Springing to her feet, she passed Luke the small dagger. The wooden slats of their cage had a rickety looking door that was sealed with more rope. Now that she could get both hands around the cell bars, it took her mere minutes to unknot the seal and push the door open. Slipping out, she scanned the room. "Be careful," Anakin whispered to her, jutting his head towards the beaded curtain. Padmé nodded. Luke slipped out of the cage behind her and knelt down in front of Anakin and Leia's cell to start unwinding the rope. 

Sucking in a deep breath, she crept towards the room's doorway. Gently pushing apart the curtain, she nearly flinched when she saw the back of a furry head with large pale ears that looked like round saucers at the top of its head. The guard had a long fluffy tail that lay like a tripwire across the floor. Its build was thin and agile, if slightly haunched over. Only its legs were thick with muscle. There were several leather straps around its chest and waist that had teeth, bones and claws attached. The objects Padmé focused on were the two gleaming sabres hanging from its belt. Slowly she stretched her hand out to reach for them. The sound of her heart thundered in her ears. Holding her breath, her hand neared the weapons' silver barrel. Any sound that broke the silence behind her might have made her flinch if she weren't so focused on being still. Carefully she placed one finger on the belt and lifted the weapon from it with her other hand. The creature flicked its ear, making her freeze. After a moment of stillness, she reached her hand behind her with the newly liberated weapon in its grasp. Warm hands gently pulled it from her.

In front of the guard there were hundreds of rope bridges lacing from tree to tree. From the little she could make out, it seemed to be an areal village with lots of other tree trunks hollowed out and some wooden shacks nestled amongst the branches. Immediately outside of the beaded door was a small arching platform that was fenced in and had a bridge of some sort attached.

Before the blade she had passed back could be ignited, she held up a halting hand. When no low hum or zip sounded, she reached forwards to the next sabre. Just as her fingers brushed its handle, a shrill scream tore through the air. Hundreds of brown blurs raced around the compound. The guard jolted forward, its ear perked up. "Vader," Leia hissed from behind her. Padmé grunted, lurching forwards and grabbing the sabre as the creature launched itself up into the trees. Turning around, she passed the weapon to Anakin. The moment it hit his hands, it was ignited. Curling the blade in one motion, he sliced through his, Luke and Leia's restraints. Taking the two sabres in his hands, he stared between them.

"This one has scorch marks I don't recognise," Anakin hummed, passing the blade he spoke of to Luke. The young rebel smiled, clipping the weapon to his belt.

Padmé twirled to look at the compound. Nearly all the natives had dispersed, leaving only a few fleeing into the trees. "Was it Vader that spooked them?" Luke asked, moving to her side.

"I don't know, but I don't think we should wait around to find out." Padmé replied, pulling her hood up over her head and moving towards the rickety wooden bridge that lead down to a large open platform that was suspended by ropes. All around the circular platforms were open stalls with strange red fruits, beads, gems and leather strips. Halting in her tracks, every muscle in her body went rigid. There he was, just stepping up onto the platform that their bridge connected to. That blood red blade of his stood out like a sore thumb amongst the lush greenery of the forest around them. "Never mind," She wheezed.

Anakin pushed in front of her and yanked the falcon's homing beacon out from his side pocket. Passing it behind his back, he murmured, "go back to the falcon." Padmé's heart sank. If she went back now, she might never be able to speak to Vader. No matter which of them won the duel, he would be vanquished. Scavenging for any possible way to prevent the fighting, her mind was reeling.

"We will not leave you to fight that monster alone," Leia argued, cautiously eyeing the figure in black advancing. Vader was crossing the wooden platform, and quickly. They had seconds before he was upon them. Padmé had to make a choice and that choice was clear. If she wanted to stop the fighting, she'd have to show both parties who they were really dealing with. Leaning forwards, she stepped towards the bridge, but Anakin lifted an arm and stopped her advance. Before she could protest or duck underneath, he spoke again.

"You've come a long way in you training, but you are nowhere near the level required to stay alive in a duel with Vader." He snapped before jumping up and flipping through the air to block Vader just before he stepped up onto the rickety bridge. The air was filled with a low hum as the blades clashed and slashed. The platform rocked and bounced beneath the weight of their blows. Padmé's breath caught in her throat as she witnessed the flurry of movement. Anakin jabbed at Vader's chest, which the armoured giant batted away, causing his opponent to stagger sideways. With one hand, he reached out and grabbed the Jedi around his neck, lifting him clear off the ground. Anakin wheezed and brought his sabre down to attack the sith but Vader used his own blade to block it.

Without a moments hesitation, Luke and Leia charged down the wooden ramp. Vader swivelled on his feet to sever to ropes that secured the bridge. With a scream both twins went plummeting. "No!" Anakin called, kicking Vader in the chest and knocking the giant to the other end of the platform and into a stall of beaded necklaces. Diving to the edge of the wooden platform Anakin thrust his hands out. Padmé nearly threw herself over the fence to see what had become of them. The twins were suspended in space. Sheer terror was written across their features. The sight of the drop below nauseated her. The twins had fallen far enough that they were hardly specs in her vision, but she knew it was them. Vader picked himself up from the stall and dusted the jewellery fro, his armour. The Jedi's face strained as he manoeuvred the pair, setting them down gently on the forest floor.

Vader lashed out at Anakin again. Still crouched down, the Jedi met the crimson blade with his own. The pair thrust their free hands out. An invisible battle of wills made the platform below them shudder and shake. With a blast of power that caused Padmé to tumble backwards, Anakin was launched from the platform and Vader nearly knocked from his feet. 

Padmé's heart leapt into her mouth as Anakin plummeted towards the ground. "Luke! Leia!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The tiny spots that were the twins shuffled around on the floor. The closer their father got to the ground, the tighter her chest became. Just as he became insect sized, his speed rapidly slowed. Letting out a weary breath, she turned her attention to Vader. It seemed her shout had captured his attention. Padmé's blood ran cold as his helmet was pointed up towards her.

"You are the refugee from Iokko, are you not?" Vader's mechanical voice boomed, his crimson blade raised. "How unfortunate you trusted the rebels." He lifted a black gloved hand towards her. Before he could use the force against her, she flicked back her hood. Vader froze. The air grew warm and stale in her chest. That featureless mask of his concealed what he might of been thinking. Before she could stop it, her body was quivering under the weight of his blank stare. 

An invisible force wrapped around Padmé and before she knew it she was hovering in the air and gliding towards Vader over the steep drop below. For fear of falling, she restrained herself from thrashing in his grasps. Even though the feel of the force gripping her sent violent, red memories flashing across her mind. Even though it made her shaking intensify. Even though she knew he could kill her at any given moment, it gave her a flicker of hope. The slap of terror brought a tickle of optimism, for the grip he used upon her was nothing like the one on Mustafar. Padmé wasn't struggling for breath and she certainly wasn't inches from death. At least, not that she was aware of. It was much gentler, like a female snapper carrying its young from the den.

Vader brought her down to hover inches in front of him, their eyes level. Now she was close enough, she could see his lenses weren't black as she thought they were, but a deep scarlet. The lightsaber still hummed into the air, highlighting the black armour red. The rasp of his respirator sent shocks of horror and fear through her. It fried her nervous system and wracked her with tremors with each and every breath. "Impersonating dead Jedi to instil hope amongst rebel ranks is pathetic, but impersonating Padmé Amidala is foolish. For your sake, you should have let her rest in peace." The sith raised his crimson blade to strike.

"Anakin, please don't. It's me." Padmé told him sternly. Inside she was shocked she had managed to stay so firm whilst speaking. On the outside, her face was etched into a harsh scowl. The kind she would have shot him if he was teasing her all those years ago. It seemed to startle Vader because his grip around her tightened, sending a shudder racing down her spine and a phantom itch to her throat.

"Lair." Vader's monotone voice snapped. Padmé's eyes widened a fraction. The image of his infuriated face yelling at her, eyes brimming with betrayal jolted her attention. "She's dead." The blood red sabre sunk back into its hilt.

"I didn't lie then and I didn't lie now," Padmé informed him. This time her voice did waver. Before she could stop it, all the built up fear and tension in her body melted away into anguish and betrayal. Struggling to free one hand, the image of Vader's black mask morphed into a hazy mess. Heat blushed her eyes. The grip around her arm released, allowing her to reach up and hook a finger around a rough and tattered string that lay beneath the neck line of her suit. Yanking it into open air, a small, hand carved, wooden pendant fell onto her chest. 

Vader set her down on the ground gently. Although Padmé was glad to escape his grasp, she missed being eye level with him. Now he towered over her, his dark cape flicking out behind her. "Padmé," he spoke gently, sounding nothing like the Anakin she knew.

"Anakin, what have you done," she said, her voice laced with exasperation and the heat returning to her eyes.

"Don't call me that," he replied sternly, clipping the blade to his side.

"Why not?" Padmé bit back incredulously. "It's your name."

"I'm not that man anymore. I'm not Anakin." Once again his tone was sharp. The black mask was angled down towards her. The dark cape flapped as a gust of wind blew past them, causing locks of her hair to flick out in the wind. Padmé swallowed a lump in her throat. A longing she had never been able to squash erupted in her chest. Once upon a time, she had dreamed they would grow old together and watch their children age with grace. No matter what had happened, it was a dream that never left her.

"That much is clear!" Padmé snapped, clenching her hands into fists. Unrelenting fury swirled with the upset that stirred in the pit of her stomach. "The Anakin I knew would never, never have committed any of the atrocities you have. There is no way he would have betrayed and slaughtered his comrades. He would never have gone as far as torturing Leia or destroying an entire planet filled with millions of people.”

"They were never my comrades! They used me! They held me back! They were always scared of me!" Vader roared. "That traitorous Princess is of no consequence to me."

"No consequence?" Padmé gaped at him. A hollow sense of dread washed over her. “Please tell me you don't know who she is? Who Luke is?"

"Luke is our son," Vader replied, but the slight twitch of his helmet highlighted his confusion. Padmé's heart squeezed. All these years and he had been completely on his own. It was all of his own actions, but she couldn't help the pity that flowed from her aching heart. Still, she couldn’t help the relief of his ignorance. Perhaps there was a chance he wouldn’t have hurt her if he knew who Leia really was.

"And Leia is our daughter." Padmé confessed, her voice dropping to its normal tone. Vader reeled back. "We had twins Anakin." A beat passed, her heart pounded in her chest. It was impossible to tell his reaction from that stupid mask. If it were twenty years earlier he would he been delighted but she had no way of knowing how he would react presently.

Vader dropped to his knees with a loud thunk. "Padmé... I," his helmeted gaze dropped to the floor. "I'm so sorry. For everything. For hurting you."

Padmé tried in vein to stifle a small gasp. The heartache in her chest only became more intense. It was easier than she would like to brush away the anger and resentment she had towards him. Stepping forwards, she cradled his head into her chest. "Oh Ani," She hummed, taking in a shaky breath. The cold metal of his mask dug into her stomach. It made her long for the warmth of his hands or the silkiness of his hair.

"Could you ever forgive me?" Vader's vocoder was gently spoken as he leaned into her embrace. Every inch of her wanted to cave in that moment. All she wanted to do was say yes. It was her Anakin after all, and she would be darned if she ever stopped loving him, but the knowledge of all his heinous crimes muzzled her. Even is she forgave him, it wouldn't stop him from going back to the emperor and wracking more havoc on the universe.

"I could," she pushed away from him, her hands resting on his shoulders. "But first you need to surrender. To stop your tyrannical rein."

"Padmé, the empire is necessary." Vader peered up at her. Behind those dark lenses, she could only imagine what his eyes looked like. "Without it the galaxy would be run by criminal scum like the Hutts."

Padmé took a step back. Wrinkles formed on her nose and her upper lip curled. "Necessary?" Her voice was light with shock. "It is not necessary!" Her voice rose slightly. Vader clambered stiffly to his feet. "Its run by terror and slavery. Anakin, you of all people should object to slavery." All the information Leia had fed her about the empire surfaced in her mind.

"I told you not to call me that." Vader's response was sharp. Padmé's heart leapt into her mouth when she realised they didn't have much time. A fall like that wouldn't have stopped the young Anakin for long. Knowing him, he would have torn through three galaxies to get to her. Water pooled into her eyes. 

"The empire is cruel." Padmé hissed, no longer able to stop tears from tracking down her cheeks. "It runs atop a mountain of dead bodies and pillaged planets." 

Vader crossed his arms over his chest. "The senate was funded from the resources of other planets." He grumbled. The normal hint of annoyance in his voice was slightly more intense than normal.

"The senate wasn't perfect, but it didn't completely drain systems dry." Padmé wiped a tear from her cheeks and placed a hand on her hip. Without asking, she had somehow found that answer to the question that had been bugging her. How could he have done so much evil all these years? It seemed he had simply reasoned it away as being needed. That his acts of evil would somehow keep the Galaxy obedient and in peace. "The senate valued its people."

"I cannot abandon the empire," Vader's voice was small. "It's all I have."

Padmé pressed her lips into a thin line. "That's not true. You have me, but if you remain with the empire I will fight you to my very last breath."

"Padmé..." Vader began, reaching out to her.

"You have your choice to make, and I'll give you time to do so." The last thing she wanted to do was force him down a path he would later regret, because she had a feeling hundreds would die if he did. "I'm going to leave this planet." There was a certainty in her voice she wasn't sure should be there. After all it was Anakin she was talking to, no matter how warped.

"No, don't go." Vader tried to reason with her. "The empire is not what they have told you. The worst treatment of people happens in its very own ranks." A low hum filled the air. Vader crumpled to the floor in front of her. 

Sucking in a deep breath, she surveyed her surroundings. Neither of her children or Anakin were in sight. Climbing to the edge of the platform, she saw all three of them on the bridge below her. "Are you okay?" Anakin yelled up to her, his panic evident in the high pitch of his tone. Leia was by his side, the baton was hovering in the air beside her, twirling so fast it appeared like a wheel.

"I'm quite alright," she yelled back. In truth, it felt like her soul had been twisted, stretched and wrung out. The conflict with Vader had burned fresh pain into her chest. Tears still made her face itch. The anguish from before still clung to her and weighted her every step, but it was different. It was bearable. If she thought hard enough about it, she might have realised it was lifted by hope.

"Jump!" He shouted back, gesturing with a hand.

Padmé turned back to Vader's collapsed form, her heart dropping ever so slightly. "Please. Surrender," she whispered to him before leaping from the edge of the platform and into the open arms of the force.


	25. Traitorous Midst

Just as promised, Anakin and Han had been able to manoeuvre the falcon clear of the planet's atmosphere and jump to hyper speed before they could sustain any damage from the imperial fleet. It was the smooth flight to the rebel base that was a challenge. Padmé had vanished, isolating herself in another part of the ship and Anakin was sitting in the cockpit, staring out at the light-speed stream around him. The noise and laughter of his crew mates drifted over him from behind. The twins were speaking with Han, joking about Vader now having no more threat than a newborn. It was not the Jedi way to harbour anger, and he was having a hard time swallowing it down. Anakin knew he shouldn't have expected anything else. If his future self was felled by Vader's blade, what hope did he have? The sith had defeated him in battle, even if he had fought dirty. That was just the way of the dark side, and the Jedi were trained to defeat its users. He had failed when it meant the most. Padmé could have lost her life. The very thought inflicted such intense nausea upon him he had to curl inwards to ease the sensation. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he placed his head in his hands.

How she had lasted so long against such a monster he would never understand, but always be grateful for. Perhaps she spoke her way around the sith until they were able to save her? Vader hadn't seemed in a talkative mood, that much was clear from his aggressive onslaught. 

How Anakin’s heart had ached when Padmé had dropped into his arms from above and immediately squirmed to be released. The terrible sight of tears pricking her eyes with salt crusting her cheeks had made him enraged. Enraged with himself. To him it was clear she was mad at him for nearly letting her die. It explained why she wouldn't look him in the eye the whole way back. Yet she had never reacted so badly to one of his rescue plans that went south before. Then again, she herself had admitted to changing. 

Pushing himself from the console, he rose to his feet. It would do no good lamenting her feelings when he could simply ask. Long tendrils of pain and grief had coiled around her the moment she had jumped from the platform from Vader. Every so often they lashed out to capture his attention. Following this agony, it didn't take him long to find her in the ship's bedroom. There she was, leaning her elbows on her knees, perched on the side of the bed. Long chocolate waves were tied back into a braid at the base of her neck. From the moment he saw her on Iokko, he had felt her torment. Padmé had skilfully stuffed it down, making him unable to detect its true magnitude. Now that he could, he found it suffocating. It was a pain he had never felt in her before. It was like being hit with a speed head on. Feeling it as his own, he had to fight back tears and swallow a lump in his throat.

Padmé turned her warm eyes up towards him, a small smile tugged at her lips. "Hello Anakin." The strength in her voice made his heart waver. Why would she put up a front around him? Pressing his lips into a thin line, he moved toward her and crouched down by her side. Placing his human hand on her knee, he peered up into her eyes. Padmé kept on her thin smile and lifted a hand to delicately brush a lock of hair from his forehead. "You were so young," her voice cracked a little. The smile she wore morphed into a watery eyed grimace. "I forgot how young." Anakin grasped her hand in his own. Of course he didn't want to die. The thought terrified him. Especially before he started living. Before he saw his children take their first steps, but it was clear his death would affect those around him much more than it did he. 

Eyes tracing her face, he longed to find a way to change the misery into joy. "I'm sorry." Anakin felt the words rumble from his mouth. "I'm sorry I left you with Vader. He could have killed you."

Padmé sent him a sad smile, shaking her head. The tears that glittered in her eyes threatened to fall. "Don't be silly," She tutted, tracing the thick veins on the back of his hand with her thumb. "There was nothing you could have done... and I'm alive."

Anakin bit down on his lip, detecting no hint of a lie. “How did you stay alive for so long?" He asked, brows puckering together.

Padmé let out a weary sigh and leaned back slightly. "Vader is not all he seems." She admitted, her voice growing weary.

"You know who he is?" Anakin's voice perked up. "Tell me who he is so I can stop this nightmare before it all begins." From the deep anguish that stirred within her, he knew she wanted to tell him badly. For that moment it didn't matter to him how she knew or that she had been lying about not knowing, he just wanted to stop it. He wanted to stop it all. All this mess and agony that riddled the future.

Once again Padmé shook her head, but no smile was present. "I've been told that you must unravel the secrets of this time on your own. That it is the will of the force you will do so. I know you respect it greatly, so for you I will hold my tongue." Anakin's heart swelled at the sentiment, but frustration was ready to deflate it. It took all his will power not to simply scour her mind for the answer. Thinking back on all the lessons Yoda had imparted on him on Dagobah took the edge off the desire, but it was still smeared across his attention.

"I trust you," was all he muttered in response. With that, Padmé shot him a wide smile and pressed their foreheads together.

*

The worst part of his missions in the clone wars was always the reporting in after the task had been completed. That held true for the tedious meeting the rebel leaders were subjecting him to. Although he might not have had to answer to the scornful Mace or All-knowing Yoda, the rebel leaders were still doing a good job of making him feel inadequate. Not by anything they said, but by what they were feeling. Anakin was supposed to be a Jedi after all, an unstoppable force of nature that was nearly killed twice by Vader. The longer Leia's report of their adventures went on the greater their discontent grew.

The twins Han and him had been shoved to the front of a command room. They stood in front of a large circle table, all the generals were staring at them from the opposite side atop teared seating. When Leia finished her story, the first to comment was Reikan. "If I am not mistaken Princess, you are trying to tell us we have a mole in our midst?" The general's tone was laced with annoyance that he had not attempted to conceal in the slightest. Reikan's hair appeared greyer than normal. The wrinkles on his face were deeper than Anakin had ever seen them.

"Yes," Leia replied. Leaning forwards onto her hands, she stared directly at him. "When we contacted the base from Dagobah, who had access to our flight coordinates?" 

Another commander, Fargin, leaned forwards and clasped his hands. "All of the commanders." A heavy air settled over them. "What of the ex-senetor you rescued?" Fargin asked, pressing his lips against white knuckles. "Vader only started tailing you after you came into contact with her." That's when Anakin felt it. Beneath Fargin's facade there was a tremor of guilt. Fargin was normally silent in the meetings Anakin had attended, so why now of all times to speak up?

Anakin stepped forwards, curling his upper lip. "It's not Padmé, it's you." He snapped. The room was enveloped into a deathly silence. All heads glanced between the two men. Even the twins stared at him in mild confusion.

"That's preposterous!" Fargin scoffed. "What proof have you?"

"The force is all the proof I need." Anakin snapped back.

"Although you have proved the force works on inanimate objects, we'd need real evidence to make such accusations." Reikan interjected, raising a hand to silence them. Anakin's blood boiled. Red tinted the corners of his vision. In his own time a statement such as that from a Jedi would be enough to convict a man, if not at least act as proof in a case against a criminal. The seething rage was quick to boil over. None of Yoda's breathing techniques could release the burning pressure on the sides of his temples. 

"You are a fool!" Anakin snapped. "How can you sit idly by when that rat is weaselling all our intel back to Vader?" Taking in ragged breaths, his eyes were narrowed at Fargin. The commander squirmed beneath his intense glare. Another silence befell the room. Almost immediately Anakin regretted his outburst, but urgency was weighing down on him. An anger thicker than gloorma gloop fogged his mind and only allowed damage production clarity.

"Anakin," Leia's stern voice cut through his senses. "I think you should leave. I tell you the developments at a later time."

Anakin took in a breath to argue, but the cold look on her face told him to reconsider. Practicing a quick mental cool down, he realised he had crossed a line. In this war he was not a commander. The meeting would run smoother without another outburst. Leia wasn't telling him to leave to shut down his voice on the council, simply to prevent further arguments. The last thing the rebellion needed was a command torn in half.

Dipping his head, the Jedi removed himself from the room. Although his anger still lingered, it was not motivating enough to make him act upon it. It was more like a washed out stain on his mental state. Even if he was simply wandering around the rebel base, it didn't take long for him to find the hangar. The moment he stepped into the cavernous room packed out with ships, the tension drained from his body. As if on auto-pilot, he made his way towards Luke's ship. There were a few people dotted around the hanger. A few were grouped together, some wearing flight suits, some wearing their own clothing. 

Aside from gentle whispers and the occasional beep from a droid or clang of metal, the hangar was silent. The pungent scent of oil burned his nose, but it had not brought tears to his eyes in a long time. Stopping by Luke's x-wing, he ran a hand along its underbelly. The cool of its metal tickled his fingertips. A lopsided smile tugged at his features. Without a moments hesitation, he opened the cockpit and slid into the seat. Tracing the buttons in front of him, his fingers lingered over a few dents in its surface. The force whispered of victory, panic and relief. It was a cocktail of emotions that swirled around him. There was no doubt in Anakin's mind that this was the ship Luke had been flying when he destroyed the Death Star.

Anakin closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat. Taking in deep breaths, he basked in his son's joy. Pride blossomed within his chest. Even if he did die, he wasn't worried about his children. Both of them had grown up to inherit the best of him and all of Padmé. In truth, Anakin wasn't sure he wanted to change them at all. The only thing that motivated him to rewrite their history was the chance to see them developing into such fine people. The chance to whisk away the terrible pain the empire and Vader had caused them before they could experience any of it. The Jedi got caught up in the idea of the twins as children. The delight, and no doubt torment they would cause to both Padmé and him. The picture of her and him cuddling two small babies to their chests as they leaned against one another and stared into the Nabian night sky sprung to his mind. The Jedi's smile widened, a warm tear escaped from under one eyelid. That image alone was a future worth fighting for. 

Anakin only realised he had fallen asleep when a sharp cough brought him crashing back to his senses. The Jedi's whole body jolted, his eyes snapping open. Panic flooded him as he tried to orient himself. It took longer than he cared to admit before he remembered clambering into Luke's cockpit. "Anakin," called Leia's voice.

Tracking the noise down past the edge of the cockpit, he saw Leia peering up at him. The princess had one hand on her hip, her hair twisted into a perfect bun at the base of her skull. Beside her stood commander Reekin, his arms clasped behind his back. The Jedi blinked slowly before hauling himself out of the x-wing's cockpit and landing on the ground in front of them with a gentle tap. "How can I help?" A weary sigh escaped his lips.

"In your absence we debated use of the baton." Leia told her, her dark eyes were lit with irritation. Anakin furrowed his brows. It was a force artefact and thus could only be used by force-sensitives. As far as Anakin knew, there were only three in the rebellion. The Jedi in his time had been able to use most weapons at their will. The Jedi purges hadn't just destroyed the Jedi themselves it would seem, but their very memory and reputation. "It's only authorised to be used in close combat. Using it in space poses too much risk to our allies and ships." Leia glanced to Reikan, who was staring directly at Anakin. "It's first job is helping us capture Vader." Anakin's heart started skipping at the thought.

"We need a plan and for a plan we need information." Reikan elaborated. When Anakin delved into the man's force presence, he found himself swamped in unrelenting anger. There was misery and grief tied in too, but anger was his predominant emotion. The commander loathed himself, but nowhere near as much as he despised the empire. "This information we will pull from Commander Fargin."

"So you believe me now?" Anakin's voice raised a pitch, his brows shot up as a spark of annoyance lit in his chest.

"I always believed you." Reikan snapped. "Lest I get a pencil in the chest." Anakin's face contorted with confusion. Leia struggled to hold in a smile. "I have suspected a mole in our ranks for a while and I have already zeroed in on Fargin."

Realisation punched Anakin in the gut. "So that, in the report, was..." his stomach churned when he remembered his outburst. The rage he had directed towards Reikan was unwarranted. Fargin was to blame for irritating him, and now Fargin knew Anakin was onto him. It would make the commander much more difficult to procure.

"A diversion yes. I didn't want Fargin to flee before we caught him." Reikan answered firmly. Anakin felt his shoulders drop a little. "Not to worry, I have nearly enough evidence to prove to the other commanders his treachery. If all goes well, his arrest will be within the next few days."

"What do you need from me?" Anakin asked, cocking his head.

"Patience." Leia's tone was scalding. "Keep an eye on Fargin, he'll expect it from you. Don't let him leave the base." Anakin nodded. That was a job he most certainly could do.

"Also, upon his arrest, we will need someone to interrogate." Reikan added, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your ability to detect his emotions would make you the prime candidate."

"I'll do it." He replied with zero hesitation.


	26. Holographic

Padmé had never been the sort of person that becomes panicked by large groups of people, but she was finding it very difficult to adjust to life on the rebel base. The ex-senator had forgotten how exhausting it was to put up a constant front. How tedious small talk about obvious matters was. How forcing a smile on her face made her cheeks ache. The worst of it, was how debilitating it felt when she didn't understand references or joke her peers made. Although, she supposed, there were some interactions she couldn't get enough of. Watching Anakin laugh with their children was a sight she had seen in her dreams. They had been torturous on Iokko, but in real life it made her heart whole. 

Padmé was residing within the small room she had been provided. R2 was purring as she cleaned the small nooks and crannies of his metal plating. Seated at the centre of the bed, she had a twin on either side. Both were watching her with wide grins and rounded eyes as she gently recalled the battle of Geonosis. "You fell from the LAAT?" Luke asked, brows shooting up. Both of them were leaning forwards, their elbows on their knees and head cocked up towards her. Threepio, who was seated in the corner of the room, let out a a high pitched gasp. Padmé supposed he was hearing about this story for the first time as well. At first he had been quite adamant the last place he would be was in the middle of a battle, but after some gentle persuasion he had accepted it.

"Yes, I rounded up some clones and we went after your father and Obi-wan." Padmé hummed, narrowing her eyes at a tiny glob of grease that leaked out from beneath R2's chrome dome. The droid whistled apologetically and teetered from foot to foot. "By the time we got there the battle was over and your father had lost a hand. If you want to know more about his fight with Dooku, Anakin is the one to ask." Padmé chuckled, wiping away the oily dollop.

"What happened after Geonosis?" Leia asked, her eyes flicking between R2 and Padmé. Padmé was astounded by their curiosity. It was only natural for them to crave knowledge about their heritage but she sensed it was something deeper. They were enamoured by the Jedi and a time that wasn't dominated by imperial reign. A time where you didn't need to live in constant fear of battalions of soldiers marching onto your land and stealing all your resources.

"Well, after Anakin recovered, he escorted me back to Naboo and we got married," she admitted, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "In the palace by the lake. The sun was just setting, if I recall correctly."

"I wish I could have seen it," Leia hummed, her eyes loosing focus. R2 let out a series of whistles and beeps, rocking back and forth on its feet.

"R2 says he still has the holo recording if you would like to see it. Of course with Mrs Padmé's permission." The droid's golden stare was pinned on her. In fact, all eyes -human and nonhuman- were staring at her. Leia's were silently pleading. Luke, although not as enthused, was still watching with an intense curiosity. Perhaps he simply wanted to see the softer, less heroic side of his father.

"Of course," Padmé smile. The droid cast a blue beam into the air. The tiny figures of both Anakin and Padmé flickered into focus. Heart sinking, she was shocked by how young they were. The only battle scar on him was the metal hand that grasped her's in his own. He still has that padawan ponytail and braid. Shock courses through her. How had she forgotten he once had such a hairstyle? The recording flickered to life. They were whispering to each other, trading their vows. The sweetness of it made her heart melt. If only they knew what was to come. What misery was to befall them. 

Vader sprung to her mind. It was almost impossible for her to put the black clad giant in the place of the juvenile padawan, but even all those years ago he had been showing signs of darkness. When he slaughtered the camp of tusken raiders was perhaps the first time she had seen it. Such unrelenting and uncontrollable anger. It was deep seated. No amount of gentle coaxing could have steered him from his path of vengeance. Back then his outburst had not made her love him any less, and she supposed she still loved him all the same. After everything he had done, all the cruel and terrible things, she couldn't hate him. An unsquashable light glowed in her heart. A light that was lit only for him. A light not even he could extinguish. 

*

If Anakin hadn't been meditating, his heart would have been racing. True to his word, Reikan had dragged Fargin into the interrogation chamber within a few days. The fool hadn't even tried to flee the base. There he sat in a small metal chair with his hands cuffed to the solid table in front of him. Fargin was a short and round man with hair cropped close to his scalp and a nose slightly too big for his face. Despite his head being held high, he felt like he was completely naked. The commander was just as much embarrassed as he was terrified by being caught. The room they were in was tiny, just large enough for Anakin to stand and wide enough for one table to squeeze in. 

The Jedi didn't bother to sit on the other chair that he had been provided with. Instead, he perched on the table by Fargin's chained hands. The commander stared up at him icily but was quaking beneath the surface. Anakin crossed his arms. "This is outrageous!" Fargin barked, his forehead creasing. "I've served this rebellion for years. A lot longer than you and yours!"

"You've been feeding resistance secrets to the empire for years, you mean," Anakin sneered, screwing his face up into a terrible scowl. 

"Nonsense!" Fargin snapped. Anakin rolled his eyes. This was not a fight he wanted to waste any more breath on. Fargin was guilty, that much he knew. Several unauthorised calls had been made in his quarters to imperial communications. The only thing that shot his glee of rooting out the traitor was the look on the twins' faces when they found out. Leia looked stoic and strong, but her despair and betrayal had leaked through the gaps in her mental barrier. Luke on the other hand, had hid nothing. Even if it hadn't been for his mouth hanging on its hinges, Anakin still would have felt his son's shock and horror.

"Where is Vader?" Anakin asked, setting his jaw. Ever since their last meeting, the sith had vanished. It was as though he had been plucked from the planet and flung into the depths of deep space. Although it had only been a week, the resistance spies were struggling to find an explanation. 

Fargin stirred, eyes drifting off to the side. A small amount of panic flared up inside of him. "I don't know anything because I'm not a spy." The commander snapped, spitting out every syllable.

Anakin could feel his temper stir within him. Any word Fargin spoke sizzled in Anakin's mind and sent up waves of roaring flames. Instinctively he drew his sabre. The blue blade hummed in his hand. Fargin drew in a sharp breath and flinched away from him. "Being a Jedi gives me many abilities." Anakin gritted his teeth, physically straining to hold in an outburst. "Reading your mind is one of them." A boom of disbelief sent shocks of caution radiating out of the commander. Anakin waved the sabre back and forth, keeping his gaze trained upon its blue light. Fargin eyed it cautiously. 

"I'm no fool," Fargin curled up his lip. 

"Pick a number from one to ten." Anakin told him, turning his gaze back to the chained man and kept his sabre purring. Taking in deep breaths he allowed himself to fall into the fast flowing river of the force. It completely enveloped him. The thoughts and feelings of everyone around him grew to the size of a fighter plane. Even the people behind the false wall in front of him stirred from his comment. They too were curious. Amongst those people were two bright suns that nearly eclipsed everything else. They had faith in him, perhaps an alarming amount. The iridescent light from the blade reflected harshly from the cuffs and table the man was chained to. Fargin opened his mouth to object. "Seven, right?" Anakin cocked a brow. Fargin physically recoiled, his neck went stiff. "Your favourite number. The age you were when you got your first blaster. The number of siblings you had. The number of times you've visited the beach planet of Kidarra." 

Fargin peered up at him with wide, rounded eyes. The rebels behind the wall were amused, but also amazed. "Now Tell me fool," Anakin continued, lowering his sapphire blade to Fargin's neck and causing the man to lean as far back into his seat as he could go. "Where is Vader?" The anger that coursed through his veins pulsed with every heartbeat. 

"I d-d-" Fargin began. Anakin cut him off by edging his sabre forwards and tapping the commander's neck.

Fargin let out a harsh shout, before sucking in a sharp breath. "Fine." He snapped. Those in the observatory sent tidal waves of triumph washing over him. A dark red mark covered in blistering skin erupted across the skin that had been subjected to the blue blade. Small tears twinkled in his eyes. Jutting his head up at an awkward angle to avoid the sapphire sabre forced Fargin to peer at the Jedi from the corner of his eyes. "Vader was been told to remain on Courescant until further notice by the Emperor himself." Fargin snapped, although Anakin detected a wobble to his voice. The Jedi had to stop himself from being disappointed that the commander had cracked so fast. It was good. It meant they could hunt down the Jedi killer sooner.

"Why," Anakin asked forcefully. 

Fargin hesitated for a moment, his eyes still focused on the lightsabre. With a growl Anakin moved it closer. Just before it touched his skin, the general squealed. "So that he can personally protect the architect responsible for the reconstruction of the death star." His voice was stretched out and strained. Anakin sheathed his sabre and straightened up. From the snippets he had been told and the abstract horror emanating from behind the false wall, he could tell that this was the worst possible information they could have received.


	27. Demon Run

The rain lashed against Vader's suit. The city buzzed around him. A small number of troopers marched behind him. The bustling crowd around him parted for his advance. Citizens warily eyed him from afar. The sky was pitch black above and every so often a long string of thunder would illuminate the underbelly of the menacing grey clouds. The air tasted of danger. 

It wasn't long until Vader reached his destination and his heart had picked up a pace of anticipation. The sith was under no illusion he was not walking into a trap. When Fargin had called him he was evidently shaken, wary glances to the side, more so than usual, indicated he was being prompted. The rebels were more idiotic than he thought if they really had believed that would deceive him. Simply because he could not sense Fargin's lies didn't mean he couldn't detect them with his eyes. It was a pity Fargin had been weeded out, he had been useful. The commander had informed him that the Jedi working with the rebels was on Courasant and that he was last sighted in a small, tacky bar on the corner of the capital. 

Although Vader knew the rebels had an easy way to completely incapacitate him, he refused to ignore this trap. If the rebels wanted him dead, they had plenty of chance to do so previously. It was more likely they wanted him alive to extract information. Vader nearly scoffed. No amount of pain they thrust upon him would ever be enough to make him speak. The sith was only willing to spring the trap because he knew it might be his only chance to see her again. Padmé had not left his mind from the moment she revealed her true identity. Even if she wasn’t dead, she had been doing a mighty job of haunting him.

It was going to be difficult, but he was determined to make her see the empire from his view. They could rule the galaxy exactly as she wished. The mere thought of her brought up a tirade of unwanted memories. Anger flared to life inside of him. Vader's suit began pumping the respirator quicker and quicker to catch up with his racing heart beat. Once upon a time he had a wife, a child on the way and the potential to become the greatest Jedi alive. The council had stripped it all away from him. It was their fault he was left as nothing more than a burned husk. The respirator wheezed, rapidly trying to keep up with his raging emotions. Clenching his jaw, Vader thrust those thoughts aside. Slowly his breath rate began to drop and level out to its normal pace. By the time it had, he was standing in front of the bar.

Illuminated letters flicked above the door, proclaiming its name - The Underbelly Bar. The u of underbelly was missing and the r of bar hanging loose. A large puddle had gathered around the base of the rusted metal door. A civilian with a smoke stick hanging from his lips stared up at the sith with wide eyes from beside the doorway. The civilian was clearly a doorman of some sorts, judging by the blasted he had strapped to his leg. The pathetic creature made no attempt to stop him as he tore open the door and strode inside with his cape bellowing out behind him. Although Vader supposed that although the man had no backbone, he was at least intelligent enough to to put up a fight.

After passing through a small, dimly lit corridor that he had to duck down to pass through, he pushed open another scrappy door. Coloured lights flashed, music blared. All beings alike ran screaming. The room was large and layered with several platforms. A large curving bar took up most of the space on the back wall. The two doors on either side of it were overflowing with hundreds of beings pushing their way out. Vader strode to the centre of the room, his boots letting out ripping sounds as he tore them from the sticky floor. The sith was about to give the command to round up anyone who was trying to escape and hold them in the club when a light presence sparkled through. A man was seated at the bar, a black cloak pulled over his head. The man's presence in the force was blinding, like peering at the twin sun's of Tatooine. It made Vader’s very soul ache.

A spark of irritation ignited a bonfire of rage in his chest. The Jedi didn't even turn to look at him. From the pulsing of his presence, the sith knew it was the very same Jedi that impersonated Anakin Skywalker. Vader's anger boiled over and without much thought he drew his sabre and lunged for the Jedi. Red sparks flew up into the air when his crimson blade tore through the seat the Jedi had just been occupying. The stool halved and clattered to the floor, the imposter was standing atop the bar with his own sapphire blade drawn. The black hood fell back, revealing the sandy hair and blonde features the sith had tried to burn from his memory. Vader froze as visions of the past flashed into his mind. The imposter used the moment of hesitation to lunge forwards and swing his sabre down. The sith caught the blade with his own just in time to stop it cutting open his helmet.

Behind him, gunfire erupted and the noise of a sabre hummed. A few storm troopers let out a grunt, followed by a loud thud. Vader felt their life passing into the force. The imposter pressed down on his lightsaber and used the pressure to flip himself over the sith. There was hardly enough time for the sith to flick out his sabre and stop the sapphire blade from cutting him in half. Vader pushed away the blade and lashed out, sending all kinds of glasses from behind the bar hurtling towards the imposter. There was only one storm trooper left. The rest had been cut open or killed by their own blaster bolts. They lay scattered over the floor, with Luke quickly advancing on the survivor. The imposter batted away the glasses that would have collided with him with his own force ability.

The Jedi and the sith moved at incredible speeds, their blades locking and swinging rapidly. The moment the final trooper dropped, another person tugged on the power of the force. Vader pressed his lightsaber down hard on the imposters, rooting him to the spot. Anger burned through every nerve and circuit in his body. Lifting his head, he scanned the room through scarlet lenses. Leia was standing in the corner, a hand raised above her head as a long thin baton began to spin. With a snarl, he reached out a hand and completely halted its movement. The imposter slipped away from Vader, jumping to the side so he could swing his sabre hard at the sith's leg. Vader stopped the blade with his own, both hands returning to its hilt. 

Leia tugged and pulled at the baton through the force with all her might, but all she could so was make it tremble. Vader traded more blows with the Jedi, straining as Luke joined in the princesses struggle. With a hiss the sith lashed out at his enemy, bearing his weight down on him completely. The imposter struggled beneath his full strength, his blade raised above his head to protect himself. "Where is she?" Vader spat out, burning rage blinding him. Luke and Leia tried in vein once again to move the baton from his iron grip. The Jedi's face contorted into strained confusion.

"Right here!" A female voice he could never forget shouted. Vader lifted his gaze from the Jedi. The bar was visible to the side of him and behind it stood a woman dressed all in white with a long chocolate braid trailing down her back. It would seem, in his anger, he had once again failed to identify her presence. Confusion blanketed the room, but Vader felt his anger ebb. It drained from his body like a receding tide lapping at worn shores. There was a desperation in her pose, her hands gripping the wooden counter top, her body half leaning over it and her eyes told the same story. They were begging with him, pleading him to stop. Those were the eyes she had shown him on Mustafar as he choked the life from her body. Guilt swamped him. After everything he had done and how he'd hurt her, she'd still been willing to give him the chance to redeem himself. Vader supposed the only way he could convince her of the empire was to oblige to her request. It was the most peaceful way to persuade her, and he owed her at least that. If he were a prisoner of the rebels he would be closer to her anyway, thought of parting made his heart ache with a pain so terrible it made him light headed. If he gained her trust by surrendering, then she would be more susceptible to helping him overthrow the empire. It was a long shot, and risky, but it was worth it for Padmé.

Vader sheathed his blade, clipping it to his belt. The Jedi staggered back a few steps, blade still ignited. The words he knew he ought to say were silenced before they met his tongue, so instead he released his grip over the baton. Within seconds a low hum he had grown to hate filled the air. The sith felt all control slipping from him as the heavy cybernetics yanked him to the floor. Vader wheezed as a burning pain shot through him and pressed on his temples. The dark side whispered to him to get up and fight, but he suppressed it with thoughts of his wife. Of her unmatched kindness and incredible elegance.

Gritting his teeth was all he could do to bear the intense ache that throbbed within his muscles. Blackness crept in on his already dark vision. The only noises he could hear were muffled whispers and the only shapes he could see were dark and unmoving. There was a prick of pain on his arm, nothing in comparison the the agony that wracked him, but it was followed by a rush of wooziness before his mind went still.


	28. Glass

Padmé had never felt more relief in her life when Vader submitted to the control of the baton. Neither had she ever been filled with such hope. For the next day she had been walking with a spring in her step. If he had surrendered for her, then she had reason to believe that he might return to the light if she coaxed him enough.

The sith had remained completely sedated the entire flight back to the rebel base on hoth. Even when he was being shipped away by rebel soldiers, the only thing that stirred was his chest. Luke had told her that having Vader so close made him nauseous. That the dark energy rolling off him was intense and made his skin feel like it was crawling with insects. In that moment, she was very glad she didn't have any connection to the force.

In a matter of hours there where whispers all through out the base. Some were happy, others cautious, some infuriated. Padmé had found herself hiding her time by speaking with the representatives of the rebellion and instructing them on proper communication. The hours had whizzed by, but the more time passed, the easier it was for unease to creep into her heart. There was no way of knowing how Vader would react when he awoke in the clutches of rebels. If he hadn't thought it through as she asked and surrendered in the heat of the moment, it was a scary possibility he might kill everyone on the base. Padmé excused herself from speaking to a young twi'leki negotiator and stepped out into one of the many frigid hallways of the base. Wrapping her furry cloak around her, she strode through the empty hallway. The spring in her step had frozen over to a rigid toddling. The noises of people trickled down the white hallway. Passing many metal doors, she navigated her way through a series of winding, white corridors with only her thoughts as company.

Vader had been the only thing on her mind since his capture. Padmé's chest tightened at the though of the rebels executing him. It had taken work to ensure they would keep him alive for questioning, but those questions would run out eventually. Padmé didn't know what would happen then, or if Vader would even answer them. "Mother!" A voice called from behind her.

Padmé turned to see Luke huddled up in bundles of white clothes and waving over to her. Sucking in a breath, she strode towards him. A smile warmed her face when she got close and saw that the cold had pinched his nose and cheeks. "Luke," she greeted him back. "How can I help you?"

Luke grabbed her hand and led her down a small side corridor. "Well, they have Vader secure now," he explained breathily as he took another turn into a well lit corridor. Two guards were standing on either side of the pale walls with guns held tightly in their hands. Upon seeing Luke approaching, they righted themselves a little. Huge metal doors with several bolts and deadlocks lined the corridor and a droid with thick looking armour plating and a domed head rolled back and forth along the floor. "The commander wants to hear from you how you made Vader stand down." Padmé's stomach sank.

"Ah," was her reply. The entire ride back she had caught Anakin staring at her when he thought she was unaware. Perhaps she should have minded her tongue? No, if she hadn't revealed herself to Vader they all might have died. It seemed Anakin trusted her enough not to comment. They had spoken about Vader's real identity and he already knew that she knew who he was. Perhaps he was simply trying to figure it out. Once again her gut stirred at the thought of Anakin realising his fate. The Jedi was good-hearted and finding out such a thing would surely take its toll on him.

"In here," Luke announced and dropped her hand as they stopped outside a thick and well varnished door.Two more guards were posted outside of it, but they didn't question Luke as he punched in a code on the door. The boy let out a wheeze as he shoved it open. Both him and Padmé slipped inside before it slammed securely shut. 

The room they had stepped into was small and rectangular but white washed like the rest of the base. On the wall opposite her there was a long and dark window that peered into another room. In front of that window stood Leia, Anakin and the commander she believed was called Reikan. All three turned to her the moment she stepped into the room. "Padmé." Anakin hummed, dipping his head. Just behind him she could make out the beginnings of a black shape on the other side of a window.

Padmé nodded towards him, "How can I help?" She asked, sending a soft smile. Leia had her arms crossed over her chest, her jaw set into an angry scowl. In her eyes burned a violent hatred that made her hair stand on end. Luke slipped into the room behind her and stood next to his sister.

"Well, I've heard you have a knack for pacifying Vader." The commander hummed, nodding his head towards the glass. Padmé stared towards it. Anakin shifted backwards, granting her the view of what was behind him. Moving up to the glass, she peered inside. 

"Don't worry," Leia commented. "We've kept him unconscious since Couresant." Padmé's heart stuttered in her chest. So Vader had not yet had the chance to retaliate.

In the centre of the small room was a long metal table. On top of it lay the unmistakable form of Vader, minus his limbs. The empty fabric where his limbs once were rolled up into folds of fabric and pinned to the stumps where his real flesh began. The black metal of his helmet gleamed under the intense overhead light. The only sign it wasn’t just empty armour was the steady blinking of lights on his chest panel. Padmé sucked in a sharp breath and placed a hand over her mouth, "did you cut off his legs?" Her voice raised a pitch as wide eyes peered at the commander.

For a moment, Reikan looked completely dumbfounded. Luke and Leia traded a confused, if mildly amused, stare. It was only Anakin who did not react. "No, of course not. All his limbs were cybernetics." The commander clarified, a wrinkle forming between his brows. "Infact, most of him is cybernetic. Even his lungs and voice." 

Padmé bit down on her lip. It was a dangerous job, enforcing for the empire, and he had been in that suit since its formation. As far as she knew, there were only a few Jedi capable of defeating Anakin in such a way he required life support to live. One of those Jedi had followed her to Mustafar to confront him. Pain blossomed in her chest because she knew the love Obi-wan and Anakin had for one another. It would have hurt Obi-wan just as much as it hurt Anakin to maim him in such a way. Yet Padmé could only wonder why he had let him live at all. It had been his mission to completely dispatch of his former pupil. Perhaps, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. A heavy reality settled in her heart and dragged her mood down. Anakin lay a hand on her shoulder and Padmé patted it with one of her own. "My apologies for making such an assumption." She dipped her head. 

The commander brushed away her statement with the back of his hand. "How was it you were able to make Vader stand down without forcing him to do so? How did you survive alone with him for so long?"

Padmé took in a deep breath. With three force sensitives in the room, she couldn't lie. Memories of crimson light sabres, shouting and blurred vision sprung to mind. "I knew Vader before he became such a monster." Anakin's grip on her shoulder tightened a fraction. Luke's head snapped towards her and Leia's brows were dangerously lowered. Reikan's mouth opened before clamping shut again. The commander's eyes rested on the still form tucked away behind the glass. "I was able to appeal to his humanity," Padmé wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Vader has none," Leia's tone was low and her jaw clenched tightly. Padmé pressed her lips into a thin line. If Leia were ever to find out about her father’s fate, it would surely not go down well. Understanding why her daughter hated Vader was easy and it caused a flicker of guilt within her chest. It was only a matter of time before they figured out who the man beneath the mask really was. The thought made angst stir within her.

"None you've seen." Padmé replied gently, her mind pulled back to a shaking wooden platform where the sith had discovered what the princess really meant to him. Vader had certainly been remorseful of his treatment of her but, if Leia’s temperament was anything to go by, she would never accept him. Although Padmé knew it was unwise to guess, she assumed he would want to find forgiveness from his children. There was only so much she could say on his behalf.

"Do you think he will respond to questioning?" Reikan hummed, his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

"I don't know." Padmé admitted. Vader surrendering was one thing, and although she had hope for it, betraying the empire was another. "When he first awakens, I would advise allowing me to speak to him first. It may stay his temper and make him more susceptible to answering questions." 

At this Anakin shifted, a gruff huff left his lungs. "You can't go in there alone," his tone left no room for argument, but she was a politician and she argued for a living. 

Padmé turned to him, his jaw was set and his eyes dark. There was a rigidity in the way he had crossed his arms over his chest. "Vader left me unharmed when we met before, he will not hurt me now." Anakin's eyes narrowed and Padmé didn't need to be force sensitive to know he was suspicious. Not of her, that had been settled, but of Vader's true identity. No doubt he was scouring his mind to find a Jedi that was fond enough of her to spare her life as a sith. Turning back to Reikan, who was stroking his chin absentmindedly, she continued, "I will be able to gauge his temperament and tell wether or not it is safe to send interrogators in."

Reikan's features tightened. Luke was staring after Leia, who was simply glaring at the pane of glass. "Are you certain he will not harm you?" The commander flicked wary eyes to Anakin before refocusing them on her.

Before Anakin could interrupt to object, she continued. "I would be just as safe standing here as I would next to Vader." 

"Then it will be so," The commander told her.


	29. Talnk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just found a few lyrics from Bruno Mars’s ‘Grenade’ that I thought fit well into Anakin’s train of thought in Revenge of the Sith. It had me a little shook when I heard it, but also very amused. ‘If my body was on fire, you’d watch me burn down in flames. You said you loved me you’re a liar.”

Luke had been keenly aware of someone watching him for a fair while. The training bot buzzed and hummed, shooting off bolts towards him. Even with his attention turned to deflecting bolts, he knew it was his sister. The open gym he was training in had a circular dais that separated a wooden floor from the softer one Luke stood upon. The walls were lined with training equipment and weapons. Several dummies piled in the corner had dark scorch marks peppering their surface. When Luke swivelled to catch a bolt, he caught sight of Leia sitting on the wooden platform, her head in her hands. Reaching out with the force, he switched the droid off and caught it in his hands before it could clatter to the floor.

Placing the droid on one of the shelves, he turned his full attention to Leia. Brown eyes glared steadily at the ground, but beneath her stony exterior her emotions were turbulent. There was a downpour of betrayal, lighted by quick flashes of anger. Luke found himself seated by her side before he had any idea what to say. He already knew what was bothering her. The revelation that their mother knew Vader and went so far as defending him had been quite shocking for Luke also. When Padmé had admitted it Leia had thrown her shields up quickly, but not fast enough to stop her anger splashing out. "Leia, I understand why you're upset but our mother has done nothing wrong." In truth, Luke had been just as angry as her when Padmé had revealed her connection to Vader, but after some deep meditation he had managed to clear his mind of his prejudices against the sith. It was clear Padmé didn’t want them to harm Vader as much as she didn't want Vader to harm them. All she was trying to do was keep the peace. In a room full of Jedi and Jedi in training, she had been the only one acting on their code.

"She trusts Vader." Leia spat, her eyes darkening with fury. "How could she trust Vader?" Another dark swirl of fury lashed out.

Luke pushed himself to his feet and dusted off his trousers. Walking to the other side of the gym, he plucked two long training sticks from a basket. When he turned back to her, her head was slightly cocked. Helping her to her feet, he offered her a stick. Leia accepted it hesitantly. Deep brown eyes flicked between his own and her warm, stormy presence attempted to brush around his to glean his intention. Luke had his shields up, she gained nothing. With that he lunged towards her. Their sticks clattered together several times as they bounded over the mats. Leia's brows pulled together as she fended him off. Luke broke away and they circled one another with sticks held tightly in two hands. "It appears to me that our mother and Vader have history. There could be a valid reason for her to trust him."

Leia huffed and jabbed towards him. Once more they moved in a rush. Their sticks clattered loudly. The princess hissed aggressively through her teeth. When she moved to swipe at his feet he jumped into the air and landed upon her stick, sending it to the floor with a loud thwack. Luke raised his stick to her throat. Leia huffed, shoving his practice weapon away and bending down to pick up her own. Once she had retrieved it, they took up a stance on opposite ends of the mat. "Vader is a monster. Why lie about him until now?" She snapped.

The twins ran to the centre to meet each other's sticks. The resulting noise from the collision jarred Luke and set his ears alight with pain. Leia's dark, determined eyes were trained on him. "Probably because she feared we would think her an imperial spy." He offered, breaking away from her and twirling his weapon in his hands. "Or maybe because she was afraid we would react like this."

Leia snarled, rushing in to attack him. With a flick of his wrist, he sent her stick soaring through the air. Before it had even landed, his own stick was pressed against her throat. Lifting her eyes to him, her jaw was clenched tightly. Stomping to the other side of the room, she retrieved her weapon and they began to circle once more. "Fine, his identity makes little difference," she snapped and circled him like a jawa ready to pounce on an unattended speeder. "But why protect him? I could feel it, she cares for him and she doesn't want him to get hurt. If he really did kill Anakin, shouldn't she hate him?" With that the pair lunged forwards and locked blades. Every hit sent jolts of pain ricocheting across his body. Defending a series of vicious strikes, he was forced to step up onto the wooden dais.

"In many ways, our mother would have been a magnificent Jedi," Luke answered plainly as their sticks locked. A few flyaway hairs clung to her sweat beaded forehead. Their chests were huffing and Luke felt an ache develop in his arms. Leia's face contorted into an expression of confusion. "She was trying to keep the peace." Luke's voice came out breath as Leia pressed hard against him. "All she wanted to do was stop anyone from getting hurt where it was unnecessary." Luke thrust his stick forwards, forcing her to stagger backwards. "You would have seen that if your mind wasn’t clouded by you hatred for Vader."

"Vader is evil." Leia spat out the words. "Why should we be peaceful towards him. The brute was certainly not peaceful to me when I was his captive." Leia rushed forward, his stick vibrated intensely in his hands after deflecting her strike. "There is no civility with a creature like him." Her voice was growing louder, nearly shouting. 

Luke jumped out of the way as another swipe narrowly missed his head. Sending her a sharp scowl, her attacks slowed slightly. "Treating him as he did you will make you no better than him. Our mother knows that." Luke grunted deflecting another few blows.

"Padmé has been isolated on an uncivilised planet for the past two decades. She knows nothing of his wrath, but we do." Leia's tone dropped slightly, a darkness swirling within her. This sent a cold chill slithering down his spine. Luke took a step back, lowering his blunt weapon. Following his lead, she stayed her advance.

"Oh, I know his wrath. I've experienced his wrath." A gentle voice made both twins jolt out their skin. Luke turned to the doorway. Padmé was standing with her arms wrapped around her stomach. A darkness was cast over her eyes. The normally perked corners of her lips were turned down and her shoulder slumped. Luke glanced to Leia. The princesses eyes were wide, her mouth slightly ajar. The darkness in her force presence had been whisked away and was replaced by a washing of guilt. 

"P-Padmé, I-" Leia began, her voice wavering.

Padmé raised a hand and shook her head. With grace and elegance she stepped of the dais and walked across the floor towards them. "Vader nearly killed me. I was bearing both of you at the time, so you could have died." The whites of her eyes became tinged with red. "I was lucky he didn't want me dead. Otherwise we all would have perished." 

"I'm sorry," Leia spoke, her usual elocution was nowhere to be found. The princesses head fell towards the floor, her eyes squeezed shut. Luke drew in a breath of cold air.

Padmé sent her children a warm smile. "It's alright. I understand your frustration." Leia lifted her eyes to stare at her mother. "To you he is a remorseless machine who spares a second thought for nobody." Luke pressed his lips together. That description was certainly not far off what he thought, but Leia's thoughts were much darker than his. "You haven't seen his kindness and compassion as I have." The princesses brows puckered at this. "I won't ask you to stop hating him, I just want you to be civil. At the moment, he is in our captivity and is literally unarmed." Leia cracked a slight smile.

Padmé lifted her hands and placed them on the twin's shoulders. Luke felt her touch soothe the the angst that had been growing within him. "I will not let Vader hurt you. I swear by it." There was an intense certainty to her voice that made his heart warm. It made him really believe he had nothing to fear from the sith when she was around.

"Thank you." Leia dipped her head again, this time as a short nod. "For all you've sacrificed for us." Padmé's face lit up. "And I'm so-" she didn't get to finish the sentence before she was enveloped in her mother's arms. Luke watched from the outside, a steady warmth stirring around his emotions. Leia reached out and tugged him closer, until he too joined their embrace. Luke took in a deep breath of their rich perfumes. Vader may have been the bane of his life, but at least he had driven their little family together, something he would always be grateful for. 

*

The one aspect of being a Jedi Anakin had always struggled with, was meditating. Of all the skills he had to catch up on when he arrived at the Jedi temple, it was the only one he never really could. Yet when his mind was in turmoil, he knew he should soothing it. So, he found himself sitting cross legged on the squeaky bed in the room he had been provided with. The room was small, with a tiny fresher and a creaking chair by his bedside. The walls were completely blank and the bedding devoid of personality. It was much like the rooms of the Jedi temple Anakin had grown up in. Perhaps that reminder was what prompted him to meditate. 

Despite the lumpy mattress beneath him, Anakin settled into position and placed his hands over his knees. Sucking in regular and steady breaths, be brought to mind the issue that was confronting him. Vader's identity. As far as he was aware, the only Jedi Padmé was close to was him. Although, it could have been argued that she saw Obi-Wan as a friend also. Anakin attempted to picture his old master in the suit of black armour with such callous quips and aggressive movements. It quite simply did not fit. Even if Obi-Wan were to become evil, he would never be careless enough to end up in a suit like that.

That only left Anakin, but he had sensed the truth when Padmé had told him he was dead. The pain that had poured from her when she spoke of watching him fall could not have been fake. Unless of course, she was speaking of a metaphorical death. A death of character. Anakin's emotions trembled, forcing him to pull away from that train of thought and focus on everything around him. Hundreds of tiny glowing specks in the force grew brighter. The hum of their life swirled around him. The twin suns of Luke and Leia were not too far away. Leia's emotions were whipping wildly out of control and Luke's calm presence was struggling against the barrage of feelings. The phantom echo of locking training sticks echoed through his mind. Not too far from them was Padmé. A blanket of tranquility trailed from her as she approached the twins. On the other end of the base was a black hole of force energy. It's darkness lay siege over that quarter of the base. There were hardly any life forms in its radius. It would seem even those who weren't force sensitive could feel its evil.

Anakin could not be that monster. Surely he would not have let himself fall so far down the rabbit hole? Anakin had made the decision to try and save Palpatine before being launched into the future, but becoming his apprentice was an entirely different matter. The very thought made him nauseous. Reaching out, he brushed the edges of the black consciousness. It immediately recoiled, sending waves of anger and hatred to lash out at the Jedi. When Anakin prodded it's thick defences, he felt no familiarity. Plastering a flimsy layer of calm over his unease, he assured himself that the masked monster could not be him. That Palpatine had corrupted some other unfortunate Jedi.


	30. Evacuation

When Vader awoke, his senses were submerged in light. It burned his eyes and swamped the force. It was a jarring experience that quickly sharpened his attention. With his head tilted towards his lap, the first thing he noticed was that his cybernetics were missing. Sitting upright in a metal chair, thick chains secured him down. A flicker of irritation flashed in the darkness of his mind, but he had suspected that creatures as fearful as the rebels would have done as such. Those fools thought his power stemmed from his ability with a lightsaber. The next thing to come to his attention was the three intense force presences not too far away. They nearly eclipsed the smaller, more timid presence that was sat right in front of him. Vader had learned his lesson. The presence in front of him instilled a lot more terror than the three bright ones ever could. 

Lifting his helmeted head, he saw Padmé seated across from him with her legs crossed over and arms clasped in her lap. A nervous energy buzzed around her as she sat stick straight. It was the same rigidity she sat with only when she was in the senate. Everything around him was tainted with a scarlet hue. All he wished was to see her as she really was, with fair skin and dark eyes. Not for the first time, he found himself cursing his injuries. The duel with Obi-wan might have taught him a hard lesson in tempering his rage and arrogance, but it had left him a charred corpse. 

For a moment he said nothing. For so long he had dreamed of seeing her again, only for the words he had planned to be silence before they reached his vocoder. Shifting slightly, the chains clinked together. "Do those rebel friends of yours really think taking my limbs and securing me with a few scraps of metal would stop me from killing them?" 

Vader kept his eyes trained on Padmé. The smile dropped from her face, only to be replaced by a stern scowl. "No, I'm the one that will stop you from killing them," her tone was sharp. "Those chains are to protect me." A memory flashed into Padmé's mind, flooding his senses with it. Something tight coiling around her throat, two dark eyes peering menacingly at her, a gloved hand reached out into the air in front of her. A horrific scowl lit by an orange glow. All encompassing terror. For both herself and her child. Guilt stirred within him, stoking the fires of his self hatred.

"A wise choice," Vader admitted. The four walls of the small boxy room they were enclosed in were identical. To his side, he could feel three force presences pulsing with light just behind the metallic wall. There was no doubt a one way window on the other side. "So, the cowards are using you to shield themselves from me?" Vader questioned, the noise of his vocoder vibrating in his chest.

"Is there any other you wouldn't kill the moment they annoyed you?" Padmé quirked a brow. 

Vader's mind flitted to his children. They were watching closely no doubt. Vader had no idea if they knew of their true parentage, but he did not feel as though mid interrogation was the correct time to reveal it. "Yes," he replied. Padmé's eyes flicked over to the wall that concealed their children and her gaze softened a little.

Taking in a deep breath, she stared into his lenses. The serious scowl on her face cut him deeply. It threw his emotions off balance. It told him she was ready to move the conversation to something he would not like. "Will you cooperate with the rebels?" She asked, eyes still pinning him down.

A small flame of hope was burning in her chest. Hope that he would simply roll over and reveal his belly. The thought of extinguishing it brought him a stab of pain. "I will not betray the empire," his tone was forceful, but he would have softened it if his vocoder allowed.

Padmé clenched her jaw and leaned back into her chair. "The empire is wretched." Her tone was cutting. "It runs off everything you hate."

Vader felt another flicker of annoyance shoot through him. "Everything I hated." He replied with more venom than normal. Padmé pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes flicking over his mask. For the first time in a long time, he felt a hint of insecurity stirring from somewhere deep inside of him. To her, his exterior would appear exactly the same as the cold casing of a droid. Nothing more than a robot. Sometimes he really felt like that. 

"What happened to that scrappy little boy who was willing to risk his life to help me escape from Tatooine." Her voice had dropped to hardly a whisper. Memories of a roasting, dry planet sprung to mind. The only relief from the misery was the glowing light from an angel. His angel. 

It became evident by her secrecy that the twins, infact, did not know who their real father was. It irked him, but he trusted Padmé. They would find out when the time was right. "He burned on the shores of Mustafar." Vader replied, his monotone voice was as quite as possible. It was loud enough however, that those behind the false wall became curious.

Padmé's brows lifted a little. "So it was Obi-Wan that landed you in that suit." She hummed. Vader's anger lashed out like a whip. The mention of his old master made his blood boil. "Is he the reason for your lack of limbs as well?" She asked. The sith felt the dark side swirl around him. The suit, the cybernetics, the years of isolation. It was all because of Obi-Wan.

"Yes." Vader hissed, straightening himself slightly. "He severed my remaining limbs and left me to char next to a river of molten magma." The chains around him began to rattle. The walls wailed and groaned as his anger pressed upon them.  
Padmé’s sudden rush of fear dimmed his rage slightly, but large dents had begun to impress on the wall surrounding them. Almost as quickly as her terror reared it's head, so too did her horror. Vader could sense her mind mulling over the mental image he had created, being repulsed and horrified by the image. When her eyes met his, all he could see was pity and pain, clouded over by fear.

The warmth those brown eyes of hers raised within his soul was enough to silence his rage, but it was too late. A segment of the wall beside him slid open, revealing a rectangular doorway. The imposter ran in, his lightsabre drawn. The twins were not far behind, immediately running to their mother and placing themselves in front of her. The fake Anakin towered over Vader and raised his blade to hover by the sith's neck. "So the imposter makes an appearance." Vader's voice was lower than usual, the vocoder sending vibrations to rattle his skeleton. 

"Imposter?" The Jedi screwed up his features, irritation causing creases between his brow.

"Anakin Skywalker is dead." Vader told him. "It's pathetic to take on the identity of a man I have already slaughtered simply to boost the morale of your feeble little rebellion." Once again Vader's own anger began to rise, but he didn't let it gain enough traction to cause quite as much a scene as he had earlier.

Anakin's top lip curled upwards. "Well what if I've come back from the dead for my revenge?" From the corners of his eye, he could see Padmé rising to her feet and slipping past her protesting children.

A sliver of amusement shone in the sith's mind. "Revenge isn't the Jedi way." The fake leaned back slightly, as though he were going to retaliate. "But Anakin Skywalker was never very good at keeping to the Jedi code." The fake lurched backwards, his eyes growing wide. Droplets of shock dripped through the Jedi's defences. The twins peered to each other, their faces furrowed in confusion.

Padmé slipped in front of the imposter and lightly pushed at his chest, "put it away before you hurt someone." The imposter scowled down at her but, upon seeing her determination, he obliged. The light sabre retracted back into its metallic hilt, but the Jedi did not move from towering over Vader. A muscle tightened in her jaw, "How am I supposed to convince him to help us if you charge in when he gets a little angry?" Her gaze flicked between the twins and the fake. Vader couldn't help but wonder if that was the sort of voice, stern and commanding, she would have used upon their children.

"A little angry?" The fake's brows raised, his mouth slightly slack. "Padmé, he could kill you."

Padmé stared down at Vader, her expression slightly downturned. "But he won't. Will you?"

"You have more threat from the imposter waving his lightsaber around like a toy." Vader grumbled. The fake looked as though he was about to lunge at the sith once more. Of all the things he had learned on Mustafar, it was that he would never, ever allow himself to become enveloped in such a rage that he would hurt her. An Anakin that hadn't learned that lesson had a greater chance of harming her, even if he wasn't really Anakin.

"He is not an imposter." Padmé spelled out every word. The fake's head snapped towards her, his eye widened. Vader reared back slightly. Surely, she knew just as well as she did that there was no way he could be the hero with no fear. Perhaps all those years on Iokko had gotten to her head, he worried. "This is Anakin Skywalker. The force sent him to this time from the past."

Vader went completely still. All eyes in the room settled on him. They were waiting for his reaction. The sith could detect no lie in her statement, and somewhere deep inside his mind the force whispered it was true. Vader would be a fool if he turned away from the force and denied it. Still, the thought was jarring enough to rock the cycle of his respirator. Anger, shock and hope fought for dominance over his emotions. Suddenly the room began to rumble. The air crackled with danger. Padmé glowered at him, "would you stop that?"

"I am not the one doing this," Vader replied sharply. The white light from above flickered to red and began flashing violently. The sound of a siren tore through the air.

Luke and Leia traded a wide eyed glance. "It's the call for an evacuation," Leia explained, her voice leaving her body in a rush of air. There was a muffled boom that rattled the room around them. 

"We're under attack." Luke added. Vader reached out, far above him he could feel a dark presence shifting and swirling with agitation. A cold fear travelled through him. It was Palpatine. The emperor's presence was far enough away for him to know that his ship was in orbit. As if sensing that Vader had realised he was there, Palpatine's presence flickered with annoyance. 

"How did-" Leia began, her brows pulling together. Suddenly her head whipped towards him. "It was the murderous snake of course. The Imperials have come to take their little pet home." 

Vader tensed at her comment. "Did you make no attempt to conceal my force presence?" The heavy silence that followed was all the answer he required. Another boom sent tremors running through the walls.

"I assumed three light side presences would be enough to cover your stench." Anakin replied, clipping his sabre to his belt. The Jedi's wide eyes scanned the room.

"It doesn't matter now," Padmé scolded them. Turning to Vader, she kept her gaze hard. "If you leave this base as our captive, you must promise you will cooperate and won't kill anyone." The sith had the distinct feeling that if he didn't leave, he would never see her again.

"Yes," he responded. 

Padmé swivelled to her children. "Find the cybernetics and the baton. I will make sure Reikan knows we will be dealing with Vader." Hesitantly, they obliged, both turning heel and running out the open doorway. Padmé was quick to follow them. Even if his heart ached at watching her go, the knowledge she was coming back made it easier to bear. Once more the base rattled.

"You are as foolish as ever," Vader told Anakin, annoyance rising within him. "You have underestimated my master. It is child's play for him to find my location."

The Jedi's brows knitted together and an ugly sneer warped his features. "Don't be cocky, it doesn't seem like he wants you back." He snapped as the base rumbled once more.

"My master wants me dead, but he knows a bombardment wouldn't kill me." Vader replied evenly. The Jedi wasn't shocked. Even back then he had known the treachery of the sith. "It's a prime opportunity to cleanse the empire of an irritating rebellion." The sith cursed himself. Although he didn't know how long they had kept him sedated, it was clearly long enough for Palpatine to rally his forces and race across the galaxy. Cursing himself for being short sighted, his respirator picked up. Vader should have known Palpatine would use Vader's involvement with the rebels to his advantage. Instead he was too desperate to see Padmé and his hastiness had endangered her life. Not to mention his past self overlooking the security of keeping a sith as a prisoner. All of it made his blood boil.

"That's a pity, killing you would be the only good thing that monster has ever done." Anakin snapped. Before Vader could formulate a response, the twins and Padmé came racing into the room. Luke and his mother were carrying four bulky cybernetics and Leia a long, thin pole. The baton.

"We need to move now," Luke's voice rushed out. "We are the last of the rebel fleet. They escaped into the tunnels below the base." In the past, the rebel's slipperiness had caused him a lot of trouble. The irony that his life could depended on it did pass his mind. There was another boom, threateningly loud. This time when the base rattled, huge cracks appeared in the ceiling. All of them stared up at it, the breath caught in their throats. Just as another blast sounded, Vader called upon the force. The entire base crumbled on top of them Vader directed the falling rubble away from them the best he could, but the corners of his vision had begun to twinge black. A headache pounded on his skull almost as hard as the rocks smashed into the floor. It was only a matter of time until his consciousness gave way.


	31. Buried Alive

A dull throb ached in Anakin's head. The closer he came to consciousness, the more intense the pain became. The air was so thick with dust, that for a moment he though he was on Tatooine. The freezing temperature and complete darkness was quick to wipe that notion from his mind. Propping himself up with his arms, he cast a wary eye around him. It appeared as though the building had collapsed around them, leaving a dome shaped space where the room had once been. The white floor was relatively unscathed, but the curving walls were just a collection of rubble and rock. A tiny stream of light shone in from above, highlighting the faces of his family. Luke was kneeling beside him, a hand placed on his shoulder. Padmé and Leia were standing by his side. "Anakin," Leia's voice held a note of warning. Both Luke and Leia were roiling within the force. 

The Jedi pushed through his clouded mind and rose to his feet. It didn't take him long to locate the source of their discomfort. Vader was standing, his limbs reattached and chains scattered across the floor. In the dim lighting, all that could be seen of him were the occasional odd angles of the sith's helmet. The rest of him melted into the darkness. Anakin stepped in front of Padmé, his hand hovering over his lightsabre. Vader's foul presence had vanished. Only because Anakin was standing in front of the sith, he could pick up feint traces of the dark side. For some reason, Vader was concealing his presence. Another quick glance around told Anakin why. The emperor would only have stopped his airborne assault when he felt his apprentice die. The sith was saving his own skin. 

Anakin drew his sabre and nearly turned it on. "Don't be so rash," Vader's voice reprimanded him. With a lift of his mechanical hand, he blew the top from their little hovel. The ground shuddered as chunks of metal and rock smashed into it out of sight. A few flakes of snow drifted down from the sapphire sky. Light poured in, burning Anakin's eyes. By the time he had adjusted, the sith had already made a small ramp of rubble to leave the tiny hole. "I don't even have a weapon," Vader commented. Anakin was shocked that the sith had somehow conveyed sarcasm through a robotic voice. Without giving them time to respond, he climbed up the makeshift ramp, his black cape bellowed out behind him. Padmé was the first to follow him, the corners of her lips curled slightly in amusement. Anakin clenched his jaw and jumped out of the hole with a huff. The twins followed their mother up into the open air. 

A cold windchill rattled Anakin's body. Despite wearing the thick, white furs that the rebels had given him, shivers claimed him. The sight of the rebel base around him drained whatever hope he might have had from his system. All that was left of the towering cliff side was smouldering pile of rubble. It spread as far as the eye could see and was spotted with black scorch marks. Grey clouds were looming on the edge of the white horizon, small amounts of snow already sprinkling down. Leia stifled a gasp. "I guess the emperor really does want you dead." Anakin commented towards the towering figure in black. Vader was staring impassively at the rocky mess, his presence still concealed by the force.

"My master was always one for theatrics," Vader responded, his voice echoing over the wasteland.

"That is certainly true." Padmé agreed, pulling her hair from her face and beginning to fold pieces over one another to form a tight braid. Anakin wondered how she had coped after learning the truth of Darth Sidious. The man that she had trusted enough to take control of the senate. The man who had been a helping hand all her life. "Two-faced hoblin," She grumbled beneath her breath, her anger spiking. Vader's helmet turned to her as he mutely observed her tying off the end of her hair.

Luke drew his hood over his head, wrapping his jacket closer around him. "We need to catch up with the rebels," he stated, his gaze fixed on the smoking remains of an x-wing pinned beneath an especially large boulder. "If they don't know we are alive, they will evacuate the planet without us and we don't have a comm to get in touch."

"There is another entrance into the tunnels not too far from here," Leia spoke, her voice hard. Anger was boiling beneath the neutral face she had plastered on. "The hangar is at least a days walk." She added, an eye flicking up to Vader. "So what are we doing with him?" All eyes turned to the sith. "He'll kill us and the rest of the rebels the first chance he gets. I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing was a twisted scheme of his. We can't trust him."

"I'd be disappointed if you did," Vader replied, his fists tightening.

"No, I think his emperor was really trying to kill him," Anakin interjected. Leia flicked wide eyes towards him. "Your master realised that you surrendered of your own free will and wants you gone before you could cause real damage to the empire. Its why Vader is still hiding his presence in the force."

"I'm hiding my presence for your sake," Vader crossed his arms over his chest. "The emperor makes an attempt on my life every second week. My master is not foolish enough to assume I would be killed by a petty bombardment like that. I have no doubt there will be ships looking for me here shortly. Without my masters ability to pin point my location, it will take them longer to arrive." This raised a note of alarm within Anakin.

"In that case, we need to move." Anakin turned to Leia. "Where is that passage way that leads to the tunnels?"

"And what? Leave Vader behind to kill hundreds of more innocent people and rebels?" Leia cocked her head to the side. Once more a dark anger was simmering beneath her skin. Anakin likened it the the anger he had felt towards the Tusken Raiders when his mother died in his arms. A cold shiver raced down his spine.

"We should take him with us." Padmé interjected, receiving three identical, incredulous looks. "He could still be of use to the rebellion." Anakin couldn't believe what he was hearing. Watching his wife defend such a horrid man was brining a cold queasiness to his stomach. It was blind loyalty. A blind loyalty she swore in marriage. The Jedi's heart faltered in his chest. Perhaps it was him. Just an older version. Anakin shoved those thoughts from his mind, giving them no credit. It was impossible.

"Vader has already refused to betray the empire, he is of no use to us," Leia argued a vein in her neck began to protrude through the skin. Anakin could understand her hatred of the sith, but it was rising to a worrying level. Although he wasn’t one to talk, he would have to speak to her about it at some point.

Padmé turned to Vader, who had been watching their debate closely. "Will you really not help us at all in our fight against the empire?" There was a soft plead hidden in her voice that made Anakin's hair stand on end.

"Against the empire, no." Vader told her. A wave of disappointment rolled off of Padmé. "But I have no qualms with helping you rid the galaxy of the emperor."

"What, so you can seize control of the empire and make it even worse?" Luke interjected, leaning towards the sith. Anakin was almost surprised by the boy's venom. It seemed Leia wasn't the only child who had inherited Padmé's outspoken nature. 

"Not me," Vader hummed, his helmet tilting slightly towards Padmé. Anakin noticed a life form moving towards them at an incredible speed. Once more, panic rose within him.

Before any of them had the chance to retaliate, he spoke, "We need to move now. A ship is heading this way." Leia looked like she was about to object. "Even if we don't take his help, it'll do no harm to keep him a prisoner." When Leia's eyes narrowed, he continued. "Killing an unarmed man is not the Jedi way." A beat of silence passed over them all. With a deep intake of breath, the princess turned around and led them off into the snowy landscape.

*

The cold air was squeezing the life from Han's body. Beneath him, his shoes crunched along the slippery ice surface. A long trail of rebels were shuffling through wide, winding tunnels. It looked like a hole had been dug through the heart glacier. No end could be seen, no matter how hard he strained. Small lightsticks clutched in their gloved hands light the ice in a green hue. From the corner of his eye, he could see his reflection walking in step beside him. Occasionally he would slip or stumble, and the reflection would copy. Chewbacca was by his side, carrying C3PO because the droid had proved too slow too keep up with the rest of the rebels. The smuggler kept looking behind him and each time he didn't see Leia bounding towards him, his gut sank. Commander Reikan had a hard enough job convincing Han to leave without them when the base was crumbling, but it was going to get a lot harder when they got to the hangar. 

R2D2 was rolling silently by his side. An uneasy silence had settled over the rebels. It had already spread amongst even the mechanics that hero with no fear and the two most respected generals hadn't escaped the base. It felt like a wet blanket had been thrown over their mood. With a shiver, the smuggled wrapped his arms around his chest. If anyone as going to make it out of that junk pile, it was Leia. No doubt he would see her strutting down the ice tunnel behind him with a dark Sith Lord and her team in tow eventually. Still, that thought alone was enough to shift his unease. Chewie gurgled soft encouragement. "I know Chewie, we'll see them soon enough." Han replied, letting out a hefty sigh that fogged up around his face.


	32. Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not posting in ages. I know it isn’t an excuse, but I was suddenly hit with inspiration for another story and ended up writing a 30,000 word book in a week. It’s about Padmé as an evil sith, so keep an eye out for it. Anyway, this story is nearing completion so I’ll try an keep updates more regular. Thank you for getting this far!

Vader was always in a perpetual state of anger. It was one of the only certainties in his life. For most of the past two decades, it had been aimed at himself. For what he did to Padmé. Only now he learned she had been alive the whole time, it was focused on his master. More than ever he wanted to watch the emperor wither beneath his own force lightening once again. Thus, his rage levels were tenfold their normal. For this reason, he found himself completely enraged by the most menial matters. When they found themselves staring at a forked pathway, deep within the bowels of the icy planet and the one they needed to take was caved in, he found he had to make a conscious effort to reign in his rage. Leia, on the other hand, made very little effort to do so. Throwing her arms into the air, she had exclaimed it would take them a whole day's walking extra just to get to the hangar. 

With that they had begun their trek at a brisk pace. Their only light sources were from the two sapphire lightsabres that could only illuminate a few meters around Luke and Anakin. The darkness was suffocating. The tunnels would wind and loop unexpectedly. Their slippery surfaces made it impossible to avoid sliding into an unexpected pitfall. Those strange dips were impossible to clamber out of, as discovered by Luke, and require the aid of another force user to pull the unsuspecting victim out once they had fallen in. Strangely enough it gave Vader an odd satisfaction to pull Leia from one of these holes and watch her furiously storm away. 

As time progressed, Vader found much amusement in watching his children. They would bicker occasionally, or strike conversations with their mother, but what he enjoyed the most was berating them about the unreliability of the rebels. Often he reminded them that if he hadn’t surrendered himself, then many of the rebels would have met a gruesome fate. It wound them all up into a tight little coil. Padmé had sent him a disapproving look, but it had done little to mute his enjoyment. The anger that had been cloaking him was slowly diffusing into a light mist.

Another curiosity was Vader's younger self. Anakin had been silent for most of the journey, even when Vader was poking holes in the rebel strategy. There was a shift in the Jedi's emotions. An unease that couldn't be lifted. The sith theorised that Anakin, despite his swollen pride, had begun to suspect who Vader really was. The prospect of seeing him distraught upon the discovery of his future was tantalising, but the force whispered to him and warned that it was something the Jedi should figure out on his own. The only master Vader would ever really listen to was that of the force. 

Padmé spent the majority of the day by Vader's side, although he suspected it was less of her wanting to spend time around him and more so childminding. The sith didn't mind, he was just glad to see her alive. To feel her presence thrumming through the force once more. It eased a heart wrenching longing that had been lodged in his mind for the last twenty years. 

Even though the tunnels were considerably warmer than the surface, Vader could still tell night was approaching from the drastic drop in temperature. Those not wearing a full suit of life-support armour went from being mildly cold to shivering without control. It was at this stage that Padmé cocked her head up to him, noticing his lack of jittery movement, and asked, "do you not get cold anymore?" Although this peaked the interest of the three other members in their little team, none of them turned to acknowledge their curiosity.

"I do," Vader replied, flexing his cybernetic fingers. The mechanical breathing echoed louder than the collective thundering of their steps. "Just not when my suit is heated from the inside."

Padmé rolled her eyes at this and wrapped her arms around herself, "how wonderful for you." 

Vader could have retorted that he would take a little cold over the constant agony the suit kept him in, but he held his tongue. "Yes, it is." He responded plainly. In truth, there were limits to the cold temperatures his suit could compete with. In such a frigid climate as the one they were in, he found that piercing tendrils of frost seeped through his cybernetics and coiled around his skin. It was enough to make him shiver lightly, a movement that was undetectable from an outside perspective. 

It was not long after that exchange that they settled down for the night. After scavenging for some wood or burnable material lodged in the icy walls, they set it alight with a lightsabre. The heat from the roaring flames thawed their skin, Vader could practically feel their delight as if it were his own. The quartet of rebels were curled into little balls around the open flame, only Anakin remained awake as he leaned back against a glassy wall and stared angrily into the flames. Vader had moved further away and was seated in a small alcove in the wall. Every breath he took caused a throb to pound in his chest. The noise of the air whooshing through his mask grated on his nerves. The blinking lights on his chest piece continually pulled his attention, tugging him back to consciousness whenever he found himself drifting off. It wasn't long until Padmé and the two children lapsed into sleep, although Leia had held on longer than the other two. Discomfort and unease still rolled from her in waves. Yet soon enough, it was only Vader and his former self left awake.

Time seemed to crawl by. All Vader could do to pass time was mull over his own thoughts and listen to the crackling of the fire. "Who are you?" Vader nearly jolted, taken off guard by his younger self's voice. Anakin was peering at him over the crackling flames, his face lit from beneath by an eerie orange glow. When the sith didn't reply immediately, the Jedi continued. "I'd at least like to know the name of the scum who kills me." Even though his voice was barely a whisper, Vader flinched at the noise.

"Darth Vader," The sith replied, his voice as quiet as it could be. When Anakin's face didn't screw up in annoyance, Vader knew he understood. There was little left of the man he used to be, only the scarred husk of evil.

"How did you know Padmé?" Anakin asked, tilting his head slightly towards the ex-senator. Vader could sense that jealousy was not the driving factor for this sudden interrogation. Although the Jedi was prone to it, it was likely more to do with his suspicion of Vader's true identity.

"Nosey as always. If you trust her, then just ask." Vader tutted. It was startling to him how different their voices sounded. Over time he had become immune to the change of his speech, but suddenly it was as stark as the first time he spoke into his vocoder. Anakin's brow wrinkled. "You should go to sleep."

"So you can kill me again?" Anakin hummed, his voice sharp with butter aggression. 

Vader could feel the Jedi tense at the mere thought. Clenching his jaw, he allowed his mental sheild to drop a little. Just enough for Anakin to glean his intention. This did little to ease his discomfort however, so Vader was forced to find the words that would put his former self’s mind at ease. Not that he wanted to, Vader wanted the Jedi to suffer for his foolish and gullible nature, but it was important he was in working condition to keep their chances of survival higher. "If I change my mind and attempt to kill you, you'll sense it before it happens." There were many times that sixth sense for danger had come in handy in his life and he knew it was a trait that he owed to Anakin.

The Jedi clenched his jaw, he clearly knew Vader was right. "Then you should sleep too," Anakin grumbled back, narrowing his eyes. "Unless you aren't human." It was a simple statement that Vader wouldn't allow himself to be fooled by. It appeared as though Anakin was looking for any confirmation that the Sith could not be his future. Vader would offer him no such relief.

"Sleep is but an inconvenience to me," Vader responded harshly. Anakin's brows lifted slightly as he realised that probably meant the Sith simply couldn’t. 

With a huff of breath, the Jedi settled back slightly. "Fine, but if you try anything I will kill you."

"As I did you," Vader replied. It was going to be a long night to spend alone. Although, at least it wasn’t alone.

*

Han could feel anxiety stirring within his gut. Pushing through hoards of people, his eyes scanned the waning crowd. Huge ships were being piled with people in the huge extra hangar. There were some rebels directing rows and ques to line up at the vehicles gaping entrances. A note of worry was tingling in his chest. Leia still had not appeared. 

A thick smog was blanketing the ground. Ship engines rumbled all around. Han spotted Reikan from afar, helping a few rebels lift some supplies onto a large carrier’s cargo hold. The commander was hoisting up the boxes and passing them to the rebel that slid them into the hold. "Reikan!" Han called, waving his arms over his head and pushing through the swarms of people to get to him.

Upon Han's arrival, the commander peered up at him but didn't not stop lifting boxes. "This had better be important, Solo. I have more important things to do than listen to your petty demands." 

Han clenched his jaw. "It's Luke and Leia, they haven't arrived yet." 

"We cannot halt this evacuation for two people." Reikan snapped, his shoulders going rigid. "We have no idea when or if the empire will decide to do another air-strike again." Someone pushed passed Han, nearly knocking him from his feet. "Can you make yourself useful?" The commander continued. With a huff, Han stooped down to pick up a box from the ever-decreasing pile and passed it on to the waiting arms of another rebel.

"We, can't just abandon them!" Han's voice raised slightly. "We should at least leave them a way off this iceball."

"I can't spare any ships." Reikan argued back, his face ringing red.

Han hoisted up another box that rattled in his grasps. "But I can. I'll leave them the Falcon." With a strained whimper he passed it on. The boxes were incredibly heavy and he could only guess what was in them. Most likely guns and weaponry. Perhaps even a few charges or hyperdrive converters. Better not drop it.

"If you must." Reikan snapped. "But if it turns out they are already dead, then you've lost yourself a fine ship."

"They’re not dead." Han bit back, nearly dropping the box he was lifting. "I can feel it."


	33. Revelation

No amount of meditation could amend the distress Anakin was feeling. Part of him had been hoping that his conversation with Vader the night before would show that his future was not spent as a tyrannical Sith Lord. Only, it made his crisis worse. It had plagued his mind for hours. Even his dreams had been riddled with him dressed in black armour and sporting a crimson blade. This deep despair of his had consumed his attention until he was blind to the world and even the force. So much so, he hadn't felt the oncoming approach of a threat. Huge rat like creatures had burst from the walls. Their mouths were foaming and thick wiry whiskers moved independent of one another. Yellowed teeth tore through the ice and milky eyes stared blankly. 

Vader however, was quick to respond. Using the force, he made the largest and most scarred rat bend to his will. The creature wailed and scurried back into the walls. The rest of its brethren were close on its tail. Anakin's blood ran cold. Taming beats was no easy feat. Only the most powerful of force users could do it. Force users like Anakin himself. In fact, he would say that he had come to rely on that ability many a times. They progressed again through the tunnels, but his inner turmoil was reaching an insurmountable peak. 

With his heart hammering in his chest, he tugged gently on a roll of fabric that fell from Padmé's cloak. Warm, brown eyes turned to meet him. Anakin realised he must have been wearing his emotions on his face because her smile dropped the moment she saw him. Their pace slowed, allowing the twins and Vader to progress quite a bit further than them in the tunnel. Once the others had reached a distance that their murmurs couldn't be heard, he let out a weary sigh. Padmé's face grew tight with concern. "What is it? Are you alright?" Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

Blood rushed through his ears. "Who is Vader?" He asked, clenching his teeth. The Jedi squeezed his hands tight to hide their tremble and prickles of nerves stung at his chest.

Padmé's eyes widened a fraction. The others pulled out of view around a sharp bend. "Anakin, you know I can't tell you that."

The freezing air did little to cool the heat radiating from his skin. "Just please-" Anakin began, his lungs drawing in deep gulps of air. "Please tell me he isn't me."

Padmé faltered in her step, her mouth fell slightly agape. Horror froze his body. She wasn’t shocked or even disgusted by the thought. All he could pick up from her presence was guilt. Pity. For him. All the organs that had been racing in his chest seemed to drop like stones to the floor. Their already slow walking pace ground to a halt. "I-" she began, though thought better of the words she was about to say. Anakin took a step back from her, running a hand through his hair. With a water gaze, he looked down the tunnel to where Vader's dark from had disappeared. "Anakin, don't-" 

It was too late. Anakin had turned his back on her and was walking with a terrifying speed down the tunnel. The horror he had felt boiled into molten rage. Despite Padmé's desperate pleas, it wasn't long until he reached Vader. Sensing the incoming storm, the Sith turned to face him. The black cape swished by his feet. "How?" Anakin roared, fury blinding his gaze. Stopping right in front of the Sith, he snarled up at him, "How could you let yourself become this?" With a hand he gestured to Vader's body. 

"You know nothing of what you speak of." Vader snapped, his baritone voice that sounded nothing like Anakin's own bounced off the walls. Leia and Luke had stopped to watch the interaction. Their minds were confused and they watched with down turned expressions. Padmé's presence drew close behind him, but she made no move to intercept the interaction.

"Why would you give up all you had, for this?" Anakin reiterated, his throat aching from the exertion. Warmth spread across his eyes. Vader's inscrutable mask peered down at him. For once, Anakin wanted to rip the damn thing of and see who he was really speaking to. To see the scarred and wound creature that wrecked havoc on the galaxy for decades.

"You are a child." Vader told him, his own anger writhing in the presence of another. "A child who doesn't understand the meaning of sacrifice. A naive child who is too confident in himself and his abilities."

Anakin gritted his teeth, fighting hard agains the tears that puddled in his eyes. "Maybe I am," his tone was deadly sharp. "But I am not a monster. I'm certainly not a tyrant who could allow the galaxy to be run by slavery and evil!"

"I'll show you exactly who you are." The Sith hissed, reaching out a mechanical hand. Before Anakin knew it, Vader's dark presence was spewing out blackness and burning images into his mind. It all happened at once. Master Windu's betrayed expression as he was flung from a window. Jedi battling for their lives. Blue and green sabres clattered to the floor along side their lifeless wielders. Younglings pleading with him. Their rounded and terrified faces falling slack. Watery eyes going blank. Small bodies crumpling to the floor. 

Next, everything was orange and the heat unbearable. Separatist screams were silenced with violence. Then there was Padmé. Brown eyes pleaded with him. Tears rolled down her reddened cheeks as she staggered back from him. A phantom rage made his heart rattle, Obi-Wan. Padmé was clutching at her throat, trying to pry away a phantom assailant. Blue lightsabers clashed over boiling pits of molten lava. There was a pain like never before. 'You were my brother Anakin. I loved you.' A heartache put into words. Flames consumed him and licked at his skin. The fire began to eat away at him and crawled down his throat. 'I hate you.' A venomous deceleration. Lying on a table, droids buzzing around him. Agony keeping him a slave to the surgery. The relief of breath finally being pulled into his body. A horrifying reality crashing down upon him. She was gone. Anger like never before. Electricity coursing through his veins. Finally understanding his fate.

When Vader's blanket of darkness retracted from Anakin's mind, he rocked unsteadily on his feet. The cold air curled around him. Faces were staring at him. Vader's helmet was impassive as always. Struggling to process all he had seen, Anakin shook his head. Warm tears tracked down his cheeks as reality pressed heavily on his shoulders. "No," he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. "I wouldn't."

"What is the last thing you remember before you were sent to the future?" Vader's unforgiving voice rattled the very walls. Tingles of shock and disbelief pulsed out from his heart.

Anakin scoured his mind, his stomach sinking upon realising how similar his memory was to Vader's. "Master Windu had cornered the chancellor," his voice came out soft and weak. Luke and Leia looked horrified. From the distress that twisted their presences, he knew they had seen it too. They had seen the creature he would become. They had seen him.

"Then you were seconds from following down the path that turns you into me," Vader crossed his arms over his chest. Anakin sucked in a shaky breath. Cool relief washed down his throat, nothing like the fiery air of Mustafar. With that, the Sith turned on his heel and continued his trek through the tunnels. Luke appeared to be completely dumbfounded, his mouth hung slightly ajar and his eyes were unfocused. Leia was just as shocked as her brother, but beneath it all was revulsion. The disgust she felt rocked the force around them. Small wrinkles appeared on her nose as she stared at him from the corner of her eye. Wordlessly, they began walking once more.


	34. Again

Anakin felt completely numb. Not even the blue streaks of hyperspace whizzing past the viewport could give him any feeling. After Vader had revealed the future, they had walked the rest of the journey in silence. Even when they found the falcon lying in wait, they only spoke when they had to. A pressure was coiling around his chest. Although he was relieved of his ignorance, it felt significantly worse to know the truth. In a heartbeat he would have admitted that he would have preferred death over becoming Vader, yet he had been seconds away from becoming the tyrannical Sith that struck terror into the hearts of millions and bended everyone around him to his will. The thought made his skin crawl. Perhaps the worst of it was that he would have had to spend the next twenty years completely alone. 

The moment they had jumped into hyperspace, they had all dispersed. The occasional hateful looks Leia sent his way brought stabs of pain to his heart. Luke couldn't even bear to look at him. Whenever Anakin attempted to reach out to him through the force, the boy recoiled like a wounded animal. Whatever his future children had thought of him before had been swiftly replaced with fear and disgust. 

Sitting in the cockpit gave him none of the relief it normally would. Instead he was curled in on himself with his head in his hands and his elbows pressed against his knees. There was nobody in the lounge behind him. Perhaps his presence was so toxic they couldn't bear to be around him. Toxic like Vader. Tears lingered behind his eyes, but he couldn't shed them. They just remained. "Anakin?" Padmé's voice made him jolt. 

The woman strode into the cockpit, her calm aura washing over him. "Padmé," he let out a deep sigh, unfurling himself. Beautiful ringlets of hair coiled all the way down to her hips. The frown lines on her face deepened as she approached him. Placing one hand on his shoulder, she descended gracefully into the co-pilot seat. Two warm eyes scanned his face before gently settling on his own. After a moment, she cocked her head to one side and a perfect curl fell in front of her face. "Vader showed me what happened during the Jedi purges. What I did to you," he admitted. The image of her choking in his grasps made him squirm within his mind. Padmé leaned back slightly, retracting her hands to her lap. Immediately, he missed its warmth on his shoulder. Biting down on her lip, her eyes wandered to the blue glow behind the viewport. "I am so sorry." He spoke in a hushed voice. "I don't know how I could ever do such a thing."

"Anakin, don't apologise for things you haven't done," her melodic voice scolded him. Once more, her brown eyes settled upon his face. "Those are Vader's mistakes, not yours." Reaching over, she tentatively placed a hand on his knee. "Just learn from them. When you return to you time do everything in your power to make sure this future never comes to pass." Her voice became slightly sterner. Anakin could only nod. A strong sense of purpose blossomed within his chest. It allowed him to shelf his grief because he knew deep within his heart he would never let the nightmare they were all living through be birthed. Those actions would never become his. 

"I just don't understand how he could live with himself for so long thinking he killed you." Anakin's voice wavered slightly, a phantom pain squeezed at his heart.

Padmé folded her hands into her lap. "I think more than just his body became robotic." A somber frown was etched onto her face. "There is a lot he has to atone for, but I have faith he will." There was a swirl of determination that rose within her. 

"How can you be so sure?" Anakin asked.

"Because I know there is a little Anakin Skywalker left inside of his heart." There was a certainty in her voice he thought was misplaced, but no one knew him better than she did. For the first time he noticed the warmth that cloaked her presence as she spoke of Vader. It was grim and shroud in shadows, but unmistakably there.

"You still love him?" Anakin asked, raising his brows. A smile curled the edges of her lips. It was a startling epiphany. It had always been obvious that she had a soft spot for the Sith, but Anakin had pinned that down to sense of duty and sentimentality.

"Yes," Padmé let out a deep sigh, her eyes falling to her lap. "So much it makes my heart ache." Anakin didn't understand how should love such a monster, but he knew he wouldn’t stop loving her even if she became the worst evil known to the galaxy. "I know he has done a lot of bad, but when I look at him I still see you," she admitted softly. "I will fight him until he remembers who he really is." 

Anakin felt a warm smile creep onto his face. "Thank you," He murmured. 

The ship suddenly burst out of hyperspace. The engine spluttered and groaned. Anakin's eyes flicked to the controls. Panic exploded within his chest. Hovering just in front of the viewport was a gargantuan imperial cruiser. "Put on the back thrusters," he choked out to Padmé. Swiftly she followed his command, but it was too late. "We are caught in the tractor beam." 

The rest of their bedraggled little group came rushing into the cockpit. "What's happening?" Luke asked. 

Vader peered out of the viewport from over the twins. Mechanical arms were crossed over his chest. "We are being pulled in by the Emperor's ship."

"How did they pull us out of hyperspace?" Leia asked, a line forming between her brows.

"That would be one of the emperor's specialised ship tuggers." Vader replied sharply. The snap wheeze of his respirator grated upon Anakin's already raw anxiety. 

"Fantastic," Padmé grumbled beneath her breath, slumping back into her seat. 

"You snake!" Leia turned to Vader. "You must have ratted us out to the empire!" She hissed through her teeth.

"No, I didn't." Vader replied, his tone speaking clear honesty. "The emperor must have some other way of-" The sith froze, his head glancing around at all of them. "Ah, I see. My master was tracking your combined light-side presence. It is rather obvious."

"Well, how do we get out of this?" Luke turned to Vader, his eyes rounded and wide.

"You don't." Vader replied stonily. "I have no doubt the emperor will have legions waiting for you in the hangar." It felt like the air of the cockpit had depressurised. Anakin was nearly choking on the combined terror his family was emitting. "Allow me to do the talking and you might survive."

*

Han sat in the cockpit with his eyes trained upon the comm control panel. In the ship's hold, several rebels were dotted around the place playing games and chatting amongst themselves. It didn't feel much like a time to play games to him. It irked him deeply, but he kept his mouth shut. No matter how long he stared at the comm unit, it wouldn't light up. Hissing through his teeth, he pinched at the bridge of his nose. A soft growl from beside him made his head lift up. Chewbacca was leaning into the cockpit, his eyes focused on Han. "Yeah, I know bud," Han replied softly, leaning his head backwards against the chair. 

Through the viewport he could make out several large ships dotted across space. They were somewhere in the outer rim. A small black spot for Imperial communications that all rebels knew to find after an evacuation. There was many things that needed attendance. For one, they needed to find a new base. For two, they needed to take a casualty count. Han had a number three, even if no one else in the resistance did. Waiting for Leia. They would arrive soon, he knew it. They had to. 

Suddenly his sensors blared to life. Han sat up in the seat, a few rebels ran to the cockpit to join him. The heart that had never failed him before stopped beating within his chest. Through the viewport he could see the underbelly of an imperial super star destroyer. The ship descended into chaos.


	35. The Final Destination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! The last two chapters will be published together tomorrow. It’s been one heck of a ride, and I’m glad you stuck around for it. Enjoy!

Anakin could do very little but stare at his palms. The small cells they were locked in were only large enough to contain two people. From what he could sense, Padmé and Luke were further down the corridor and completely out of earshot. Leia however, was unwilling trapped with him. Anakin was seated on the large metal slab, he assumed was supposed to be a bed, on the furthest wall from the door. Leia was seated on the small step that led up to the cells access point. Her body was angled away from him and her face pulled into a tight scowl. Vader hadn't returned after handing them over as prisoners to the imperial troopers. It was putting Anakin on edge. There was no knowing if or when his future self would return. Although, he supposed there was one thing he could deal with for the time being. "Leia," he called to her. Rather unenthusiastically, she cocked her head in his direction. "I don't know exactly what Vader has done to you, and I'm sorry he hurt you, but it wasn’t me," he kept his voice soft as he held her gaze.

"But it will be," she hissed, sitting forwards. "It's not about what Vader has done to me. It's about the hundreds of lives he has ruined, the countless children he's orphaned, the millions he has forced into slavery for the empire." There was a sharp note of aggression lining her voice and Anakin could feel anger rising like a storm within her.

"I've done none of those thing," Anakin argued back, sitting up straight. "All I've done is fight for peace. For the republic." 

"Vader said it himself. You were seconds away from slaughtering the Jedi!" Leia's voice raised slightly. Turning to face him, she placed her hands on her knees and leant forwards. "Everything Vader has done, you have the capability to. That evil of his came from you!"

"No, it didn't," Anakin snapped back. "Yes I always have had a little darkness within me, but the path Vader chose was to protect Padmé and he got lost along the way." Exhaling sharply, he jutted his jaw to one side. "I'm not saying what he did was right, I'm saying that if I were put in the same position now I wouldn't do the same."

Leia sat back and shook her head slowly. "Let's hope that's true, for the sake of the past you are being sent back to." That comment twisted his heart, but also ignited a flicker of hope within his heart. When he returned to the past, all of this would seem like nothing but a bad dream. All those Jedi he killed would continue to live and the galaxy would finally be submerged in peace. Anakin clutched onto that image like a lifeline. That was what he was fighting for.

"Leia, I won't let any of this happen," he dropped his voice down to a quiet whisper. Two rich, brown eyes held his stare. The glare she had been wearing softened a little. Although she was still quite angry, he could sense she still had faith in him. In the Jedi Anakin Skywalker. 

Pursing her lips, she drew in a deep breath. "If you do end up falling, promise me one thing," spoke softly. Anakin opened his mouth to argue, but she lifted a hand and silenced him. "Don't let Alderaan be destroyed,” her voice wavered. Perhaps for the first time since he had met her. It took him off guard, his response faltered.

Anakin placed a hand over his heart. "Leia, I swear it." 

They sat in relative silence for the next while. All Anakin could do to pass the time was picture what his future would look like as a parent of twins. Probably not easy and even infuriating at times, he would imagine, but more than anything it would be worth it. 

Eventually Vader came to their cell. His black suit of armour took up the entire doorway. Only a sliver of Luke and Padmé could be seen behind his domineering figure. “Come with me if you wish to live,” his mechanical voice boomed. Rather reluctantly, they followed along. 

Before long, all four of them were in chains, trailing behind the dark lord of the Sith as he strode down the hundreds of winding hallways and corridors in the ship. Their footsteps echoed around them. The Sith hadn't said a word and they were all beginning to grow restless the twins were communicating aggressively back and forth with only their eyes. "Anakin," Padmé hissed suddenly as they strode through a long, empty corridor. Both Vader and his younger counter part glanced over at her. "The older one," she clarified.

Vader drew his head up slightly. "I seem to recall you being older than I," he grumbled. Luke and Leia traded a startled stare. Anakin shook his head and closed his eyes over. That was a fact he used to torment her often, in their own time. Hearing someone else taunt her in such a way was a little surreal to him, sending a wave of prickling goosebumps over his skin.

"Where are you taking us?" Padmé pressed, narrowing her eyes at Vader's black mask. The harsh white lighting from above lit the Sith's armour with intense white shapes. The hallway itself was made of a shiny, black plastisteel that let out metallic clangs after every one of Vader’s lumbering footsteps. A large, arching door stood at the end of the hallway. On either side, two men in red armour stood sentry with puffed chests and straight backs.

The Sith quickened his pace. "To see the Emperor," he admitted.

"What!" Anakin whisper-shouted, quickening his speed to fall into step beside the dark lord. "You have to know he will just kill them," he jutted his head towards Padmé and the twins. An inferno of rage burst to life in his chest. Just how far had he fallen, to want to risk the lives of his family so recklessly.

"The Emperor is my master," Vader replied in a monotone voice. They were drawing closer to the door. Pressure was building on Anakin's chest. There was no way he could save the past if he wasn't alive to return to it. Luke and Leia had also become quite distressed. Their uneasy eyes scanned the red guards. Padmé's mind felt like a complex web of confusion and disbelief. It seemed even she couldn't pin Vader's motive.

"You are not his slave!" Anakin argued back, red tinged the corners of his vision. "Help us escape," his voice was flinty.

Vader halted in his tracks, spinning on his heels to tower over Anakin. "I am just as much a slave to my master, as you were to Watto and the Jedi order," he waggled a gloved finger in front the Jedi's face. Before he got any response, he turned back towards the door and strode swiftly away from them. Anakin remained stuck to the spot for a moment, shock turned his blood cold. Blinking hard, he ground his teeth together. Before he could retort, Padmé placed a hand on his upper arms and gently shook his head. What's worse, she followed after the armoured giant. Anakin clenched his hands into trembling fists. It appeared he didn't have a choice but to follow.


	36. The Final Battle

Padmé could feel her heart pumping hot, toxic rage throughout her body. There the four of them were, lined up like ducks at the base of Palpatine's throne. Huge, curving steps led up to the Emperor himself, who regarded them with lazy eyes. The room was dark. The only light came from the humongous windows behind him that peered out across hundreds of streamlined imperial ships that fired upon a small number of tiny rebel fighters. Vader stood tall by the Emperor's side, like a domesticated beast heeling to its master. It was clear Anakin and the twins thought he had betrayed them, if the furious scowls on their faces were anything to go by, but Padmé wasn't sure. More than anything, she knew Vader despised his master with his whole being. What his intentions were by offering them up like captured prey completely eluded her. Staring up at his glassy lenses, she watched him carefully. The black helmet tilted towards her, but his voice remained silent.

"How curious to see you alive, Amidala," Sidious's voice crackled and whined. "That extravagant funeral even had me fooled" Padmé felt guilt stir within her. The funeral hadn't been planned by her, and she hadn't even seen it take place. The thought that her Anakin had to see her buried made her queasy to her very core.

"It was just as real as your plead of innocence to the senate was," she responded in a cold and steely voice. "At least mine had a little style." 

Palpatine's yellowed eye's peered down at her from within the darkness of his hood. Sunken cheekbones lifted into a rotten grin. "Its good to see years of isolation have not dampened your sense of humour," the Emperor cackled in amusement. "I couldn't possibly say the same for Lord Vader." His narrowed his eyes at the young Anakin. 

"I suppose being burned alive has its perks," Leia's sharp tone pierced through the darkness. The princess sent a withering glare up towards the armoured giant. Vader didn't even shift. Anakin however, pulled his brows down into a stubborn frown. Padmé bit down on her lip. She didn't know exactly what Vader had shown them through his force telepathy, but she supposed his downfall was very plausible. They must have seen him burning on the shores of Mustafar.

"Yes, I see the resemblance now," the Emperor sneered, digging yellowed nails into the arm of his throne. "What of you, Skywalker from the past, what do you think of your fate?" he gestured a hand to Vader's stiff form.

"You're a snake," Anakin snapped, leaning forwards. "I'll be sent back to my own time, and when I do I'm going to cut that big head from your shoulders." This drew a cackle from the Emperors' lips. "The empire will never see the light of day."

"Unless I kill you now," the Emperor's voice rumbled across the room. There was a flash of scarlet. Before Padmé knew it, Vader and Palpatine had crossed blades. The apprentice pressed down hard on his master's weapon. "You are too predictable, my old friend," Sidious chastised him. 

A rush of power blasted across the room. Vader's cape was blown out behind him. There was a flash of silver that flew through the air. "It is time to take arms," the armoured giant bellowed. Anakin and Luke reached out, grasping the two lightsabers that rocketed towards them. In a flash of sapphire, the boys cut themselves free from their bindings. Palpatine jumped into the air in frantic whirl of scarlet robes. Landing at the room's edge, he paced around them with his scarlet blade humming. Electricity crackled on his finger tips.

“Generally, in surprise attacks, the attackers know they will be attacking before they attack!” Anakin hissed at Vader, who’s dark helmet was focused on Palpatine. 

“Your inability to control your emotions would have given us away,” Vader grumbled back, his cape fanned out as he descended from the Emperor’s throne. Leia, who's hands were still in chains, backed towards her mother and positioned herself between Padmé and the Emperor. Luke and Anakin charged towards Sidious, their blades slicing through the air. The Sith batted them away like they were toys. They leapt, spun and clashed violently all across the room. Together, Padmé and her daughter retreated towards the corner of the room. Sidious was leading them in circles like they were little more than lost guppers. 

The tide of battle changed when Vader implemented his attack. Every time the Emperor landed, one of the three Skywalkers would take a ruthless swing. They had him bouncing about like a swamp monkey. Padmé felt pride blossom in her heart. Vader hadn't turned his back on them, he was lining them up for a free shot at his master. Perhaps she could talk him out of supporting the empire after all of this was over. With his help, the rebels may finally see victory.

Padmé was pulled from her musings when Sidious came rocketing towards them. Both Leia and her were swift to jump from his pathway. The Sith came to a halting stop in the exact place they had been standing. Twirling on his heels, he reached a gnarled hand out towards her. Before Padmé knew it, the force constricted around around her throat and lifted her clean off the floor. The breath was squeezed from her lungs. "Let her go," the thunderous voices of Anakin and Vader yelled in complete synchronicity.

Palpatine's vicious cackle rattled through the throne room. Padmé's hand flew instinctively to her throat to grasp at the invisible assailant choking her. Sidious floated her through the air and used her to shield himself from the Jedi and Vader. Seeing their horrified expressions, she dropped her hands to her sides and forced herself to go still. Anakin was trembling, the grip on his lightsaber visibly tight. Leia stood with Luke, who had an arm protective raised in front her, a concerned frown deepening her features. Although Padmé couldn't see Vader's face, she could see how rigid his body had become. "How cowardly," Padmé hissed. Sidious was out of her line of sight, but from the tightening grip around her throat she knew he heard her. "Here I thought you were a powerful Sith Lord that didn't need to rely on petty plays to win a fight." The grip on her throat silenced her last few words.

"How about not irritating the evil Emperor that has your neck in his hands?" Anakin muttered, sending her an incredulous look. Padmé could only let out a strained gasp in response. Black spots dotted her vision. Pressure was building on her temples. Her lungs seized within her chest.

"Padmé my dear, this entire Empire was built on my lies and trickery," Palpatine sneered from behind her and slowly edged back towards the entrance to the throne room. "I thought you knew that. Vader certainly does." The armoured giant let out a shout of rage. Lifting his arm, he threw his ignited blade like a boomerang. It twirled through the air, zipped past her and forced the chancellor to duck beneath it. The grip on her neck was broken, allowing her to crumble down to the floor. Padmé gasped in a few breaths. The burning pain in her chest eased.

"Enough of this," Palpatine snapped, throwing out his hands. Lightening erupted from his fingers, blasting straight into Vader before he could summon his lightsaber back to defend himself. The Sith was flung into the air and landed in a smoking heap several feet back. Padmé's hand flew to her mouth as more crackling lighting webbed through the air and fried Anakin and Luke. The two men collapsed to the ground. Strained, gasping cries escaped their lips. 

Padmé pulled herself shakily to her feet. A hollow of complete helplessness rose within her. Anakin and Luke were writhing on the floor. The lightning sparked across their skin and all she could do was watch. The glint of metal caught her eyes. Vader's lightsaber was lying, completely unattended just beside Palpatine. Padmé caught Leia's eyes and nodded her head towards it. Her daughter dipped her head in agreement. "Palpatine, stop this!" She cried creeping across the room and drawing the Sith's eyes away from Leia. "You already have them beaten!"

Palpatine locked his gaze onto her and let out a throaty cackle. In her peripheral vision, Padmé saw Leia lifting a hand and drawing Vader's lightsaber into her grasp. The princess ignited it, crimson light illuminated her face. Rushing forwards, she swung for the Sidious. The Sith barely had any time to call off his lightening and dodge out of the blade’s arcing path. Sidious drew his own weapon and the pair began exchanging rapid blows. Much to her disbelief, Vader was beginning to pick himself up from the floor. Padmé dropped to her knees between Luke and Anakin. "Are you alright?" she whispered. 

Their clothes were smouldering and their faces twisted in pain. Luke hissed through his teeth and lay flat on his back, but stiffly nodded. Anakin groaned as he lifted his head and stared with wide eyes at the ongoing fight between Leia and Palpatine. "You have to stop them," Anakin wheezed, "he'll kill her." The panic rising in his voice did not go unnoticed by her. Vader was limping closer to the ongoing duel. Padmé's heart hammered in her chest. Anakin and Luke were gaining mobility. The started to peel themselves off the floor and unsteadily rise to their feet. She stood with them, allowing them to use her shoulders to balance themselves. 

Leia and Sidious locked blades. The Sith cackled maniacally as he pressed his full weight down upon her. In his glee, he failed to notice the armoured giant towering behind him. In one swift motion, Vader wrapped his arms around his master, holding him against his chest and pinning his arms to his sides. Sidious hissed like a feral animal. Lightning flared to life all around him, sizzling away at his apprentice and himself. "Finish it Leia!" Vader's voice boomed.

Leia lifted the blade to strike, but faltered. Padmé lurched forwards. "Don't!" she cried. If the princess struck out at the Emperor, it would kill Vader too. 

"You must end this now!" Vader insisted, his vocoder scrambling and wheezing. Leia struck out with the crimson blade, thrusting it through Palpatine's heart and impaling Vader's stomach. A cry escaped Padmé's lips. The lightning fizzled out of existence. Leia retracted the blade and dropped it, deactivated, to the floor. Sidious crumpled into a heap on the ground. Vader staggered back a few steps, before he himself collapsed onto his back with a deafening thud that echoed around the room. For only a moment, she stared in disbelief. Her heart stopped beating.

Padmé pulled herself together and raced across the room towards him. She dropped to her knees by the side of his head. "Ani?" Her voice hitched. There was a smouldering hole in his abdomen. The stench of charred flesh filled the air. The helmeted head tilted towards her.

"Padmé," he responded, his mechanical voice randomly jumping and glitching. A high pitched wheeze accompanied his every breath.

Tears welled into her eyes. Gingerly, she pulled his head into her lap and cradled it close. "I'm so sorry," her voice shook. Running a hand over the masks high cheekbone, she couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "If I had known you were alive, I would have come and found you," she choked out between stifled sobs. A few tears splattered onto the dark armour of his helmet.

Vader lifted a hand, placing in on her arm. It was heavy and cold. "Who told you I was dead?" he droned. Luke dropped down to the floor on the opposite side of the Sith. His somber eyes rested on his fallen father. Anakin crouched down to the ground beside her and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Obi-Wan did, and Yoda," Padmé responded, staring into his scarlet lenses. All she wanted to was peer into those eyes of his just one last time, but that would kill him no doubt.

"They were wise to hide you and the twins from me," Vader remarked, a hint of coldness creeping into his voice. 

Anakin’s eyes flicked between them. With one hand, he lifted Vader's gauntlet close to his face. Pressing his thumb on a button, there was a bleep. "Emergency medical teams are required in the throne room. Report immediately," he spoke gruffly. Before there was a response, the Sith tugged his arms out of the Jedi's grasp and hovered it above his helmet.

"Stop the rebel attacks," he commanded, the deep baritone rattled the floor around them. The communicator crackled an affirmative and he gently lowered his arm back to his side. Padmé felt relief wash over her. At least for now, the rebels were safe from the empire. An expression of shock lit Luke's face. It quickly shifted to uneasy relief.

Anakin closed his eyes over and kept his hand pressed over the lightsaber wound. Padmé had no idea what he was doing, but she trusted him enough to know it wasn’t to Vader’s detriment. "I'm keeping him alive with the force," he grunted, clearly sensing her curiosity. Timidly, Luke reached out and placed one of his own hands on Vader's chest, closing his own eyes over. 

"You should let it be," Vader's voice was much softer than before. The grip he had placed on Padmé's arm was slowly loosening and slipping down towards her wrist. "If it is my time, then it is my time." Padmé held his helmet closer.

"I don't think Padmé would ever forgive me if I let you die now," Anakin chuckled, but the lines on his forehead deepened. Padmé's heart thundered in her ears.

"Leia," Luke spoke calmly despite the strain on his face. Padmé's eyes lifted to her daughter. She was hovering at Vader's feet and her jaw was tightly clenched. Wide brown eyes scanned the scene before her. "I know you've had your differences but, if he is to live until the medical team gets here, we need your help." Padmé dropped her eyes back down to Vader. His breathing was dangerously shallow. After all they had been through, she couldn't bring herself to ask Leia to save him. That wouldn't be fair. The princess shifted on her feet.

"He did just risk his life to stop the Emperor," Anakin added, still completely focused on the task at hand. 

Leia remained silent. "You can feel it, can't you?" Luke hummed. "The light."

"Fine," Leia snapped suddenly, dropping to the floor beside her brother and placing a hand on Vader's chest. "Just don't ask me to do it ever again." With that, all three Jedi lapsed into silence. Their clenched eyes and frustrated scowls told her they were fighting a loosing battle.

"Padmé," Vader's crackling voice startled her. "You must lead the galaxy back to peace."

Padmé shook her head. "I already told you, I could never work for a dictatorial system," she spoke sternly.

"Then revive democracy," his mechanical voice became warped and whiny, but she understood every word of it. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sharp wheeze of his failing respirator. This galaxy would know peace again, of that she was certain, but she didn't know if she would be at the helm of it. Of course she would do everything in her power to achieve it, she also saw a bright future for the twins. The smiling faces of the resistance.

The respirator cut out. Padmé's blood froze over. "Take the helmet off," Anakin instructed her calmly. “It will smother him." The three Jedi were still diligently working away. He was still alive. Blowing out a steady breath, she curled her grip around the edges of Vader's mask. When her fingers caught a latch, it popped open with a hiss. Delicately, she pulled the helmet off from his head and placed it on the ground beside her. What she saw beneath made her heart stop. Tight, pale skin was pulled over high cheekbones. Huge scars ran across his jaw and skull. The whites of his eyes were terribly bloodshot as he squinted against the light. The only part of him she recognised was those two, sparkling blue eyes. Running a thumb along his cheekbone, a smile curved her lips. Finally, she could see him. That over expressive face of his was twisted into a fierce scowl.

"Anakin," Vader's voice was hardly a whisper, but she would recognise that distinctive outer-rim twang anywhere. The Jedi in question jolted slightly, clearly startled by the voice. Anakin's eyes flew open and he peered down at his older self. His eyes widened, his mouth hung ajar. "You must leave the Jedi order. They will fight you until their last breath," he strained.

"I know," Anakin dipped his head. "I've realised now what is actually important to me," a lopsided grin split his face as he glanced across the twins and Padmé. A golden glow began to glitter across his skin.

"Y-you're glowing!" Leia stuttered, her eyes flickering open. Luke also snapped his head towards Anakin.

The Jedi nodded his head solemnly. "I think it's time for me to return to the past," he mumbled, his outer extremities began to break down and crumble into a fine, glittery dust. Lifting his eyes, he caught each of their gazes. "This will not happen again, I promise you that," he assured them firmly. With that, his body dissolved into the air in a plume of golden mist.

They had no time to process his disappearance before the medical team came banging into the room, shouting and hollering. They dragged a hover stretcher by their sides. A rush of relief washed over her. Everything was going to be okay.

Turning her head down to her Anakin, a wide smile split her features. "I love you, Anakin," she told him. The way his eyes lit up warmed her heart.

"And I you," he whispered back.

*

The force swamped Anakin's senses. It was neither light nor dark, just perfectly neutral. No longer did her feel any of the hindrances of the physical world. None of the stinging pain left from Sidious's lightning, none of the fatigue from keeping Vader alive, none of the air filling his lungs. The only part of him still active was his memory and seared into it was the sight of Vader's pale, scarred face. The face of the future.

Just as quickly as he was yanked into it, the force spewed him out. Anakin wavered on his feet. A familiar scene was playing out before him. The Chancellor's office. Broken glass. Dead Jedi. The stench of scorched flesh. Palpatine laying pathetically on his back in the mouth of a window. Windu pointing his purpleblade at the fallen Sith's neck. Both of them demanding his help. There was no thought. Springing forth and drawing his lightsaber, he imbedded its blade deep into Palpatine's head. The Sith's eyes were trapped in a wide eyed stare of horror. A hiss of air escaped from an agape mouth lined with rotten, yellow teeth. It was over.


	37. The Past Births The Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I will miss all your wonderful comments, they kept me determined to finish this book! I hope you all stay safe during quarantine and I will forever be grateful you took time out of your life to read this little tale of mine. I really hope you enjoyed this crazy journey we have been on together.

Padmé rolled the hem of her sleeve between her fingers. The turbo lift powering her up had glossy, reflective walls. The gleam of her huge, flowing head piece caught her eyes. Locks of brown hair were woven back through a mesh of interlocking golden rods. It had taken her some time to get used to wearing such intricate hairdos once again, but now she wore them with her head high and shoulders back. The dress she sported was decorated with a huge array of fine jewels and expensive beads. It puffed out at the waist into a red cascade of curling fabric. Even for Padmé it was a bit too much, but the situation called for finery of the highest tier. 

Leia, who was standing infront, also adorned a huge gown. It was very similar to her mothers. They could only be picked apart by the navy blue of Leia's fabric. Luke, who was standing at his sister's side, wore a lavish, tailed tuxedo made from the same blue material. A huge fur trim lined his coat.

Beside her, Anakin was standing tall. The hulking black armour he once wore was replaced by a much lighter, white set of mechanics and plastisteel plates. He still had a long and draping cape but his helmet had drastically changed. It had devolved to a small machine that wrapped around his neck and concealed his nose and mouth. Two blue eyes stared out from beneath scarred eyelids. After their fight with Sidious, he was rushed into the emergency operating centre with no real sign if he would live or die. It was hours of waiting, pulling her hair out and fending off tears, but when he emerged alive in his new suit of armour, it was more than worth it. Although, it had taken her many years more to convince him to swap out the domineering black with a hopeful white. In fact, this was his first time donning the light armour in public. Shifting his eyes over to her, his face twisted into a scowl. "I look ridiculous, don't I?" he grumbled.

"No you don't," she reassured him with a smile. It took her many unsuccessful battles to even make him appear today, so fine clothes were never an option. Even still, if he felt self conscious and backed out when they were so close, it would be a real headache with the press.

"If you want people to see you differently, then the black armour had to go," Leia peered sternly over her shoulder towards him. When they first began their crusade for peace between the empire and the rebels, Leia and Anakin had been at complete odds ends. They could hardly even stand to be in the same room as one another. Eventually they had learned to cope with the others opposing views. It had happened rather suddenly. One day during a meeting of negotiation, instead of them arguing profusely and one storming away, they found a middle ground. Ever since then, their cooperation increased exponentially. Although they still argued occasionally, it was nothing more than an ember to the original bonfire. Padmé knew their relationship was strictly business, and it probably always would be, but she was so very proud of how far they had come.

"Yes," Luke agreed, dipping his head. "You were still scaring the children whenever you walked by." Anakin just rolled his eyes. Luke and Anakin had a much different bond that Leia and Anakin did. Initially, the boy spent large amounts of time training in the ways of the force with his father. The way Padmé heard it, her son had grown into quite the unbelievable Jedi. Over time they grew closer and closer, until one day she walked past the pair sitting on the training mats laughing. Perhaps not a big sign of success for anyone else, but it had taken Luke some time to loosen off around Anakin, and Anakin... well it was a minor miracle if he genuinely smiled. A stark difference from the past, but twenty years of constant agony would do that.

The turbo lift halted to a stop, causing her gut to flip. "Everyone smile," Padmé reminded them calmly. The doors pinged open, revealing a large platform that overlooked millions of people gathered on grassy plains under the brilliant sun. "For this is the day we declare galaxy wide peace."

*

Anakin couldn't help the bubble of angst expanding within his gut. Aggressively, he paced around the rim of a huge, marble balcony that was propped up by white columns wrapped in ivy. The bright flowers reflected the golden light of the sun. Stretched out before him was an expanse of shimmering water that blended into the jagged silhouettes of a rising mountain. Birdsong twittered through the air, but their effortless harmonies could not ease his bubbling mind. If he strained hard enough, he could make out the distant sound of screaming.

"Oh dear," a familiar voice greeted him. Anakin halted. Obi-Wan stalked onto the balcony, his cloak swishing by his feet and a warm smile curling his lips. "I don't think I've ever seen you this anxious in my life," he commented, folding his arms into his robes.

Anakin blew out a sharp hiss of air between his teeth and stalked over to the thick bannister that fenced the balcony in. Placing his hands on the cool marble, he tried to draw in steady breaths but they came in shaky, broken spurts. "I don't think I've seen me this anxious in my life," he replied, squeezing his eyes shut. 

A warm hand landed on his shoulder, making him jolt. He hadn't even felt Obi-Wan approach. The Jedi master leant down on the banister beside him. "Why are you out here?" he asked gently, staring out at the glimmering lake. 

"I was making them nervous," he sighed, a frown settling on his features.

"They will be fine," Obi-Wan assured him firmly, eyes flicking up to his former apprentice.

Anakin nodded his head. "I know. It'll all turn out okay," he responded sharply. Obi-Wan's long, draping sleeves swayed in the breeze. Anakin peered down at his own, simple clothing. It was a lot lighter than the Jedi robes he once wore, both in weight and colour. "Thank you for coming," Anakin mumbled beneath his breath, casting his eyes to the ground.

Obi-Wan sent him a warm smile. "Just because you are no longer a Jedi, doesn't mean we are not brothers," he chuffed calmly. A wide smile cracked Anakin's intense scowl. "Although I wish you hadn't lied, I don't think I've ever seen you happier," he admitted. "I'm glad you've found your own little family."

Anakin stood up and dragged Obi-Wan into a tight hug. The Jedi went stiff, but slowly returned it. Affection of any kind had been frowned upon whilst they were apart of the order, and now he had left, there was no reason for him to hold back anymore. "You will always be a part of my family Obi-Wan," he uttered quietly. 

Pulling away, he couldn't help but smile at the twinkling tears in Obi-Wan's eyes. A loud scream echoed from inside the house. Anakin peered at the slatted, wooden doors that lead into the main residence. All of his muscles tensed and his gut twisted. Even Obi-Wan wore a mild frown. "She is alright Anakin," the Jedi assured him again, leaning around to catch his eyes. Anakin nodded mutely and began to wring his fingers. 

Together, they stared out across the Nubian countryside. Time crawled by slowly. With every pained cry he heard, part of his soul rotted within him. It's disease seeped into his veins and lit a fire beneath his heart. The sun began to dip behind the distant mountain range. The lake sparkled orange beneath an ochre sun. Eventually, the house fell silent. Angst built to an incredible pressure on his chest. It was completely smothering his senses.

"Mr Skywalker?" a dainty, voice called for him. A short woman with soft features poked her head out of the slatted doors. Her greying hair was slicked into a bun that rested like a ball atop her skull. Anakin's heart pounded in his chest, even when she gave him a comforting smile, because he could make out distinct smears of blood on her white apron. He stood up straight and stared at her expectantly. "Everything went well," she chirped. Anakin blew out a loud breath. Relief prickled across his skin. "Mrs Amidala would like to see you now."

Anakin dipped his head and followed the short woman into the darkness of the house. Obi-Wan patted his back as he passed, and with a nod of his head gesture to the balcony. Anakin dipped his own head in response. Walking through the dim corridors, he found his pulse spiralling out of control once more. The little lady tottered quickly, forcing him to lengthen his stride to keep up. Obi-Wan remained on the balcony and Anakin found himself sorely missing his calm presence.

Eventually, the woman slipped into a small, well lit room. Sucking in a deep breath, he followed behind her. Immediately, his eyes locked onto Padmé. She was propped up by an assortment of cream pillows atop a plush bed. A slick sheen of sweat glistened on her skin. Clumpy curls fell in front of her flushed face. Lifting tired eyes to his, she sent him a weary smile. Cuddled into her arms were two tiny, little, pink babies. A grin formed on his face so wide that it made his cheeks ache. "You look worse than I do," Padmé chuckled softly.

Anakin shook his head and scratched at the back of his neck. Hovering at the door, he saw one of the babies tilt it's head up towards him. Chunky eyelids split open to reveal gleaming, sapphire irises beneath. "Come here," Padmé beckoned him closer with the elegant curl of a finger. Creeping over to her, he crouched down at the bedside. His eyes were level with the babies. "What do you think?" Padmé asked, cocking her head to the side. "Anything like the Luke and Leia of the future?" the edges of her lips curled upwards.

Anakin reached out and sheepishly stroked a thumb over the brow of the blue eyes baby. It gurgled in delight. "Not quite," he hummed, lifting his eyes to meet his wife's gleaming gaze. "But they have a while to get there yet."


End file.
